


Ever Onwards: Dragons?

by ckong11235



Category: Naruto, The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:42:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ckong11235/pseuds/ckong11235
Summary: The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Departure

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

"Shannaro!"

Three voices intertwined as their owners finally triumphed over the greatest threat the Elemental Nations has ever faced.

Pale, royal lavender Byakugan eyes helplessly glared with hatred at the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura as the sun and moon reached out to forever shatter her dreams of eternal peace. " _Im…possible. For me, the mother of all chakra, to be bested by the wretched offspring of Hagoromo._ " Alabaster fists, capable of ending all of existence, tightly clenched as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki bitterly railed against her oncoming defeat. Suddenly, just as she felt Naruto and Sasuke grip her shoulders, her hate filled all-seeing eyes spotted her only path of freedom, the seal on the belly of the glowing blond who, out of the two, managed to humiliate and infuriate her the most.

" _If my fate is to once again be sealed…_ "

"RIKUDŌ: CHIBAKU TENSEI!"

" _...then you shall suffer with me!_ "

The instant Naruto and Sasuke finished the strongest sealing jutsu, a giant black sphere of impossible gravitational power emerged, forcing even Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra, up into the sky. As she drew closer to the orb, wisps of dark blue streams swiftly turned into raging rivers as Kaguya's god-like chakra constantly streamed from her body into the seal, strengthening its already powerful gravitational pull to the point of distorting space itself.

Below, the earth tore itself asunder as distant mountain ranges cracked and groaned before violently hurtling up towards the Rabbit Goddess, forming a giant prison not unlike the distant moon in space.

" _Finally, it's done._ " Back down on the ruined earth, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all relaxed when they saw Kaguya about to be completely hidden from view.

However, just as the two incarnations of the Sage's sons were about to send the second moon into space, the enormous ball of compressed earth and stone suddenly trembled, causing bits of rocks to tumble to the ground. Yet none of them noticed the tremor since the unbreakable prison was already shaking from all of the tons of earth to begin with.

That didn't last long.

With a last burst of her godly chakra, Kaguya shuttled her prison between dimensions towards the quartet, who only now began to realize something was wrong when a black rift in space abruptly swallowed her.

"What the…"

Naruto, still garbed in both Kurama's and the Rikudō Sennin's Yang chakra, uttered his astonishment before widening his crossed eyes in shock when Kaguya's prison teleported not twenty feet above him.

"Oi, Sasuke! What the hell is going…AHHHH!"

Then, before Sasuke's shocked mystic eyes, a scene unpleasantly reminding him of when Madara absorbed the God Tree into himself occurred just hours earlier happen to his only friend.

But it was what he heard and saw that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

Unlike the mad Uchiha, Naruto - the same person who would go to ridiculous lengths to hide away his suffering - was screaming out in terrifying agony as bloody cracks ripped apart his skin, swiftly dyeing his clothes a hideous red, before closing up thanks to his powerful regeneration...only to open again.

And again.

And again.

And again until the ground beneath was soaked in blood.

Through it all, an ugly grimace etched itself on his whiskered visage as what was equivalent to more than double an entire world's worth of chakra - determined to do nothing else but make its new host experience a living hell - maliciously barged into the seal that currently contained only the Yin half of Kurama.

" _Kurama, what…the hell is going on in here!_ " Tearing his attention away from the pain and into his mindscape, a kneeling Naruto bore witness to what equated to a second moon pushing its way into the Kyuubi's cage, the bars that once held back the fox beginning to crumble and shatter under its impossible weight and presence. Had he been anyone else, his body would have simply evaporated, leaving nothing behind except a giant construct of rock and goddess as his tombstone. As it were, the only thing preventing this from happening or his chakra pathways outright shattering was a giant nine-tailed fox with dark russet fur desperately pushing against Kaguya's prison, only allowing the foreign object to slowly enter as the seal attempted to readjust itself.

" **Hold on brat! Just hold on a little longer! Kaguya must have used the last burst of chakra under her control to teleport herself into your seal!** "

" _I…see._ " A crimson eye twitched. " _NO I DON'T! HOW THE HELL DID SHE DO THAT AND OWOWOWOW…_ "

" **SHUT IT BRAT, I'M A LITTLE BUSY OVER HERE! AND HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT SUPER GRANNY OVER HERE DID?!** " Kurama ferociously roared as he was steadily pushed back further into the seal by the moon.

"…!" Naruto didn't bother answering back as he was yanked back into the real world from a sudden jerk on the back of his shredded jacket. Flipping through the air, the first thing he saw and felt was solid stone as his face _bounced_ off of Hashirama's arm. Arms trembling, his vision blurred and twisted by the body-ripping agony, he shakily pulled himself back on his feet, only for his gut to sink when he saw his brother from another life stand opposite of him.

A Chidori chirping on his hand.

_60 Years Later_

Fragile russet brown leaves, cracked and dried as they always were at this time of year, faintly rustled as the cool wind of Fall whispered through the boughs of the trees surrounding the Uchiha compound before falling to join the small, colorful tornado of leaves swirling above the ground, much to the delight of children running around the compound. Just a few blocks away, the barking of Inuzaka clan dogs intertwined with the sharp chirps of birds could be heard all over Konoha as the sun rose to greet the new day. Only the faint wisps of smoke that rose from budding industry marred the otherwise picturesque scene.

All in all, it was a normal day for the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Yet, as laughter and barks drifted through the air, the Uchiha compound was silent, the heavy, almost tangible, atmosphere hanging above a stark contrast to the one outside. No light or signs of life could be seen from the rows of old, but well-maintained, houses, except for one deep within the ancestral area. Inside, behind a pair of thin paper walls and beneath a blanket laid a man with pitch-black hair and streaks of silver running through it, inky eyes, and a missing left arm shorn off near the elbow. His face and build, once the object of rabid affection from women across the Elemental Nations, now withered and lined with age.

On each side of him knelt two people. On his left was a woman with pale pink hair, startling green eyes, and a fading violet diamond on her wrinkled forehead. Faint lines marked the edges of her lips and eyes, the legendary seal taught by her master now losing its potency in her advanced age; yet, such trivial blemishes did nothing to diminish the gentle smile that played on her lips as she gazed down at her husband. On the opposite side sat someone who didn't seem to quite belong: a young man with sun-kissed blonde hair, eyes as blue as a cloudless summer sky, three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek, and a right arm completely wrapped in bandages covered in a myriad of minute black seals. If not for his radically different features, he could've been mistaken as the son or even grandson of the old couple before him.

For several minutes, none spoke as dust lightly settled on the soft mats. Yet, despite the depressing air surrounding them, there was a sense of peace and comfort brought along with years of friendship and complete trust in the other. Finally, it was the bedridden man who broke the silence.

"Dobe, Sakura, I'm _cough cough_!" A string of coughs broke Sasuke's sentence. Only after Sakura, her hands speeding through seals with almost nonchalant ease, passed a glowing green hand over his chest did he stop. Taking a deep breath, he locked eyes with the man he called friend. "I'm dying…and there is something I must -"

A grunt interrupted his words. "Tch, you've been saying that for the past couple of years ya damn bastard. Yet here you are, still breathing and going on about that insane plan of yours. I've said it before and I'll say it again! With the power of the Six Paths and your eyes, you can still live for a few more years with Sakura and Sarada! Come on Sakura, you have to back me up on this." Naruto retorted with his arms crossed before his chest, glancing between the two as he pleaded for them to see reason, hoping to trigger even a fraction of the unyielding resolution Sasuke used to have. However, the worry in his eyes betrayed him.

Off to the side, Sakura merely sighed, not bothering to give a straight answer, having long agreed with Sasuke's proposal.

Suddenly, just as Sasuke was about to respond, a shudder wracked Naruto's powerful frame as pain capable of driving a god insane coursed through his body. Slowly, his shaking form started to keel over, and would have if not for the thin layer of gold flames which erupted from within. As his companion from birth undid the changes that took place in his very genes, Naruto spat out a small wad of blood before righting himself.

Through it all, neither of his friends bothered to react, as if used to the sight of someone capable of punching a hole through the moon losing control of his body, the only sign of worry reflected within their eyes while the scent of rusted iron filled the air.

"Even after all these years, you're still a dobe." Sasuke chuckled quietly, more amused than angry at the weak attempt to rile him up; he knew Naruto meant nothing by it. His eyes grew misty as he remembered all the times they clashed, whether it be with words or their fists, each bruise and scar a proud reminder of their times together. As he watched Naruto wipe the blood from his lips, he mentally sighed, " _How time has flown by..._ "

Before he could sink deeper into nostalgia, a streak of agony lanced up his crippled arm. He winced at the unwelcome surprise.

_"Enough, the past is the past. There is work to be done._ "

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke glowered at the stubborn blond, lifting his decrepit body inch by inch with a trembling arm. "Hn, do you take me for a fool, or do you think me so blind as to not see the seal holding both Kaguya and Kurama is already on its last legs, not to mention your body is already breaking down at the seams? How long do you have? A day? A week? Maybe a month? Maybe you even have a year, but by then, when that bitch finally claws her way out of that seal, I won't be able to even stand never mind fight! And you?" His voice trailed off, the room still trembling under the force of his fury and chakra.

Flopping back into bed, beads of sweat rolled over his heaving chest as he cursed how weak he was. Yet not once did his eyes leave Naruto's, his tone now soft, almost begging for him to see the inevitable. With a sense of finality, he delivered the finishing blow.

"And you...you will be dead. Either by internal combustion, or by her hand after she rips Kurama from your belly. Along with everyone else."

For a moment, nobody said anything, for how could they? No matter how Naruto wanted to deny, yell at his friend he was wrong, that there was always another way, his throat choked up before he could say the words.

Because the bastard was right, as he usually was.

When he saw Naruto stay quiet, Sasuke seized the opportunity to say the words that had to be said.

"Only when Yin and Yang combine back into one will you be able to preserve your body from breaking down anymore than it has already. And with my eyes, you will be able to resist Kaguya's pull on the Jūbi and only then stand a chance against her." He paused for a second before adding, "Perhaps your seal will even stabilize and give you time to adapt to your new powers."

Naruto irritably rubbed the back of his head as he sighed in frustration.

"Maybe my the changes to my body can be halted. Maybe the seal will stabilize. There are too many maybe's! You already know I'm at my limit, what with the old man's Yang chakra, Kurama and Kaguya, not to mention my own considerable reserves. I'll give you a maybe too. _Maybe_ I'll explode the moment you transfer your Yin chakra and damn pinkeyes into my skull! There are just too...many...maybe's for this 'plan' of yours to work!"

It was a weak reason, and Naruto knew it.

Sakura knew it.

And Sasuke definitely knew it. And he made sure Naruto knew he knew. Ignoring how his body protested the motion, the elder Uchiha forced his body back up into a sitting position.

"Idiot!"

In response, Naruto slapped his hands down on the mat...or rather through it.

"Brooding emo!"

A hint of red and violet emerged within the inky darkness as Sharingan and Rinnegan whirled to life.

"Knucklehead!"

Ha! That's a compliment you son of-!"

Just as the two seemed ready to leap at each other to brawl it out, a hand appeared behind their skulls.

"ENOUGH!"

_Smash!_

A certain someone finally couldn't stand it any longer as her legendary temper, rumored to even surpass her mentor's, burst to life as she slammed her teammates' heads together until all they could see was stars. Finally, as the two legends slumped to the ground, a lone figure stood tall, her figure illuminated by the morning sun as rested her hands on her hips, green eyes ablaze with victory and exasperation alike.

"Ow, Sakura, what was that for?/Hn, was that really necessary?" Their complaints quickly petered out when they saw the culprit raise her glowing fist in warning. Seeing them simmer down, Sakura withdrew her fist to point at Naruto.

"Naruto, listen, and I mean really listen. I'm only going to say this once. You've already heard Sasuke's reasons for transferring his powers to you, and there's nothing wrong with what he said. So I won't say anything more about that. But there's something else you must consider. You know that the Elemental Nations have changed, for better or worse. Peace is now the name of the game and with everything you've worked for, power such as yours and Sasuke's is no longer needed in the new society, not with everyone across the land being so goody goody towards one another. Even the shinobi way is dying out, with the lack of wars and safer roads. It can be seen everywhere. Last year, only two children signed up for the Shinobi Academy and even then, they soon dropped out to become...businessmen. Not to mention the recent Kages are a joke compared to the past ones; some haven't even seen death."

The light in their eyes dimmed as they thought of how a core part of their childhood was dying out. However, they had come to terms with this long ago; the tradition of the shinobi was one built on blood and hatred and no longer had a place in the new age of peace. Lowering her hand, Sakura sat back down, her face slightly pale with exhaustion as her other hand sought for Sasuke's.

"Naruto, the last shinobi who could be considered true shinobi was Sarada's generation. Soon, the shinobi will cease to exist after her generation passes on, but you...should you survive the coming fight, you will be the last shinobi. So just take it, take the gift that he is offering, even if it's just a way to remind you of us after we pass on." Sakura softly said as she held her husband's hand.

A minute passed while Naruto tightly clenched his fists as his mouth opened and closed while trying to form words to somehow dissuade them. But to no avail. Shoulders slumped, his head drooped down in defeat.

"Do it then. Do it before I change my mind." Naruto softly whispered.

With hardly a pause, a paper seal slapped down on the back of his neck. As he slumped towards the floor, the last thing he felt was a slight body holding him before gently laying him down next the bed.

"Finally, it's done." Sasuke whispered; the corner of his lips quirked up as what seemed to be the weight of the world fell off his shoulders. As Naruto lost consciousness, he looked back to his wife's face to see two tracks of tears spilling out from her eyes as she fussed about with the blond's eternally spiky hair in preparation for the surgery. Stretching out a trembling hand, the last reincarnation of Indra took hold of his friend's right hand.

" _At last, the cycle is broken. Perhaps, this is another form of revolution as the old man foretold..._ " Preparing to transfer his half of Hagoromo's power as well his own chakra reserves, Sasuke glanced up at his wife for over fifty year's glistening eyes before an uncharacteristically large grin broke out on his face.

"I love you Sakura. See you on the other side."

A small chuckle squeezed past Sakura's lips even as more tears dripped down her cheeks when she saw that smile. Leaning down, she tenderly kissed him placing a seal on his chest.

The last thing Uchiha Sasuke, Savior of the World, Last Reincarnation of Indra, heard was, "I know, Sasuke-kun. Have a good rest."

Then he saw nothing.

_One Hour Later_

As Naruto regained consciousness, he realized that all he could see was black before realizing the thick layer of gauze and bandages wrapped over his eyes. But he didn't motion to remove it. Instead, he reached out towards the last constant in his life.

"Kurama, you there?"

A puff of hot air rustled his hair as the giant fox made himself known.

" **Yes, I'm here.** "

Turning around, Naruto stared into the giant crimson eye that towered above him. "...and Sakura and the bastard?"

Kurama hesitated before cautiously replying, " **Naruto...they're gone.** "

"...I see."

_Drip...drip..._

Bloody tears slowly stained the bandage over his eyes red before splashing onto the floor. Gingerly standing up, Naruto fell again before steadying himself. Reaching up, he slowly began to remove the bandage around his head. When the last piece of gauze fluttered to the ground, he opened his eyes, an inky black much like the bottom of a lake during the new moon. If he looked closely, on his previously unmarked left palm was the small symbol a moon, the proof the operation worked. If he cared to pay attention, he would notice the constant bouts of agony that once consumed his mind and body were now nowhere to be felt, now replaced by a new sense of completeness as well as a new source of power lurking just underneath the surface of his skin.

But he noticed none of this. All he could see was the blurry image of his friends nestled together, their eyes forever shut and their hands tightly intertwined. Stumbling forward, he fell onto his knees and as he drew closer, he saw the small, but genuine smiles mirrored on their lips.

"Goodbye Sasuke, Sakura," Naruto whispered; leaning in, he kissed their foreheads before staggering away, his form blurring into nothingness as he raced away from Konoha, unaware and uncaring of the swathe of trees that exploded when they stood in his way.

That night, a sorrowful bellow rumbled through the land as Naruto lamented the loss of two of its legends, and more importantly his dearest friends.

_30 Years Later_

Three decades of time found Naruto silently standing on the easternmost shore of the Elemental Nations, watching the endless sea break against protruding rocks while enjoying the cooling sea breeze that sprang up now and again. After a particularly rough gust, the loose sleeves of his orange shirt and white trenchcoat with the kanji for Seventh Hokage sewn on it in red fluttered up, revealing a nearly invisible storage seal etched into the back of his left arm. Patting down his rebellious sleeves, he returned to quietly gazing into the endless blue sea with his now lighter black eyes, recalling everything that happened since the end of the 4th Shinobi War. From the defeat, sealing, and absorption of Kaguya, his marriage with Hinata, becoming the Seventh Hokage of Konoha and all the good times in between.

However, despite all the years he had to grieve, he refused to dwell on their deaths, rather choosing to remember them when they were alive.

A rumble through his mind broke his reverie.

" **Naruto, you sure about this? If you do this and ever come back, no one will remember or even recognize you.** " Kurama asked.

" _I'm fine Kurama. I have packed more than enough ramen and weapons…_ "

The giant fox interrupted him. " **You know that's not what I meant brat. I'm asking whether… _"_**

A tired sigh held back the rest of Kurama's words. " _That's enough Kurama._ _You know why I must do this. Besides, I thought you out of the two of us would want to leave this place the most, since you've already been everywhere and don't want to potentially become a tool for others._ " Naruto remarked.

" **Tch, fat chance of that happening if Kaguya manages to kill us. Whatever, I was just making sure you had no regrets since it would be annoying to hear you complaining about home.** "

" _Hn, love you too furball._ " Naruto thought back.

" **Humph, I guess anything is fine as long you don't get us killed in our journey. Anyways, your other…tenant is starting to wake up.** " Kurama said in a worried tone.

" _Think she'll be a problem?_ " Naruto shot back with narrowed eyes.

" **If you mean whether she will wake up in the middle of the sea…that is a very real possibility. So what will you do? Stay here and possibly lose control, or lose control in the middle of the sea with no land in sight?** " Kurama asked.

"My decision remains the same. Better than possibly sinking the entire continent by accident before managing to drag her ass into space or some other dimension. Besides, it's not as if it's decided that I will lose control!" Naruto unintentionally tightened the seal-covered bandage around his right arm.

"Well said Naruto, as expected of the one holding both of my sons' chakra." Said a voice behind Naruto.

"Oi, Hagoromo-san, what did I say about suddenly talking behind my back." Naruto exclaimed, turning around to see the Rikudo no Sennin, Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

"I see that you are going with your plan on leaving the Elemental Nations? If so, I have some knowledge to share with you, along with two gifts." Hagoromo said. "First, you must know after my brother and I first sealed our mother, I created a spacetime barrier with an element of illusion around the Elemental Nations that stretched into the sea. It is because of this barrier, that there has been no visitors from outside the Elemental Nations or mention of other continents beyond this one."

"So this means…" Naruto said

"Yes, once you cross the barrier, it will be difficult for you to return to the mainland. Not even the Hiraishin no Jutsu or the Kamui can guarantee your return due to the nature of the barrier. Only when you have complete control of space and time will you be able to surely return. Should you try it without the knowledge, you might just get tossed into the void and forever drift between dimensions before landing in a random world. I never intended for the way of the shinobi to spread beyond this continent to the rest of the world. However, I should inform you, before I set up the barrier, there was a group of explorers who left soon after my creation of Ninshu around 1000 years ago." With that out of the way, Hagoromo moved closer as he raised a finger.

"Now for my gifts. My first gift is a complete list of Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu that the Elemental Nations has ever created. No doubt this will prove useful to you. As for my second gift, I will strengthen the seal on my mother with the last of my chakra. With this, she will remain sealed for at most another three or five, years." Hagoromo said as he poked Naruto's head, instantly transferring huge amounts of knowledge as well as strengthening part of the seal that kept Kaguya dormant.

Shaking his head to get rid of the stars that had flashed in his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath before raising his fist, a layer of yellow flames flickering over it. "Thanks for everything old man."

Blinking in surprise, the Sage stared at the proffered fist before smiling and knocking against it with his own. In an instant, a stream of emotions flowed between the three: concern, fear, confidence, sadness, excitement, and others unknown to words.

As Hagoromo retracted his hand, he made one request, much to the fox's protest. "Take care of Kurama, will you. He always was the stubbornest of his siblings, and yet the most sensitive out of all of them."

"Of course…after all, he's my lifelong friend and partner." Ignoring how the fox in his belly roared out in denial of needing anyone to look after him, Naruto flicked his thumb up. However, the hidden melancholy lurking beneath his dark orbs did not escape the God of Shinobi.

" _I can only hope you will one day heal and that you find somebody that can bring you happiness…son._ " The elder Ōtsutsuki inwardly sighed, guilt eating at him when he remembered the day the presence of Kaguya forced Naruto onto the immortal path.

"I believe you. Now it is time for you to go. Remember to train with all of your powers, and good luck." Tapping his staff against the ground, Hagoromo slowly faded from the Elemental Nations, never to be see again.

"Goodbye Hagoromo-san/ **Otou-san**." Naruto and Kurama said one last time.

Just as he disappeared, his voice rang out one last time, just barely audible to the two, "Oh, and Naruto...Happy 100th Birthday."

Naruto sadly stared at where the first God of Shinobi disappeared with a few tears in his eyes before wiping them away.

"So even you have faded away…"

" **Come on brat, let's go.** "

"Yeah."


	2. At Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

Without wasting a second, Naruto tapped a seal marked on his left arm before moving back to avoid the incoming splash as a decent sized boat dropped into the sea. Gently stepping onto the bobbing deck, he - more out of habit than necessity - crossed his fingers for his signature jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

With nary a sound, a clone completely identical to the original appeared behind him. Nodding the clone towards the wheel, Naruto made his way towards the front of the vessel without giving his double a second glance. Upon reaching the prow, he gazed into the horizon before sitting down, legs crossed and hands over knees.

Seeing its boss settle down, the clone pushed a few buttons before pressing its palm against a seal-covered panel to send a small burst of chakra. A quiet hum thrummed through the deck as the engine beneath came to life. Spinning the wheel, the clone swiftly guided the boat out from the shore and into open water, carefully making sure not to accidentally bump into any protruding reefs or sandbars; within seconds after clearing the shallows, the ship was cutting through the waves at an unbelievable pace.

Through it all, the main body continued to meditate, barely noticing the passage of time. With the clone's power and large chakra reserves, there was no need to worry about the ship stalling or getting wrecked by some manner of sea creature or freakish weather. Day quickly became night. When night once again yielded to day in the endless cycle, Kurama suddenly stirred from his nap.

" **Hey brat, it's about time we find out about what abilities your eyes have** **.** "

His meditation interrupted, Naruto cracked open his eyes as he gazed at the seemingly infinite sea in front.

" _Is it time then?_ "

" **Correct. And as an added bonus, the Uchiha brat's eyes have finally fully bonded with your DNA. If you but look down at the water, you'll see what I mean.** "

For a second, Naruto sat still, puzzled by the fox's words as he tried to decipher them. However, he eventually shrugged, choosing to do as his longest-standing companion said. As he leaned overboard to stare at his turbid reflection, his eyes abruptly widened in shocked disbelief. Raising his trembling fingers to his eyes, a carefree smile broke across his face for the first time in over thirty years as gleaming cerulean orbs, _his_ eyes, stared back, their wonder obvious. Several minutes passed by while Naruto just stared at his reflection, an intense happiness warming his being as a wayward piece reunited with himself.

" **Oi Naruto! If you're done admiring yourself like a woman, hurry up and try using Kamui! Who knows, maybe that's one of your abilities.** " Getting impatient by his host's actions, Kurama finally couldn't take it anymore and roared out from a sunny meadow in Naruto's mindscape.

Almost as eager as his furry friend, Naruto didn't bother responding to his jibe as he sent a burst chakra into his eyes before muttering, "Kamui!" Not sure what to expect, he almost yelped in surprise as he instantly disappeared from reality in a swirl of inky darkness before almost face planting into a swathe of grass.

" _Wait...grass?_ "

Not for the first time that day, he felt his eyes widen before springing to his feet, only for his jaw to fall to the ground. A vast grassland stretched out as far as his enhanced sight could see. In the far distance great mountains whose snowy peaks pierced through the sky lined the horizon like the points on a crown. However a frown soon marred his face as something, other than the amazing and impossible view, began to bother him. Tilting his head up, Naruto realized that currently in his _Kamui_ space, it was almost noon with the sun nearly hanging directly above him.

" _But why is it so dark?_ " A vast shade enveloped the area in front of him for miles around. And even that was odd. " _Why does the shape of it look familiar? Those weird ear like things and ten tails...oh._ " As his pupils dilated, a hot wind from behind almost knocked him back to the ground. Whirling around, Naruto felt his jaw that he just picked up from the ground again fall prey to gravity.

"Kur-KURAMA! WHAT THE, NO, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE? AND WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN HUGE?!"

A rumbling chuckle shook the air as a giant figure who towered above the clouds leaned down, his crimson slitted eyes, taller than even Naruto who stood above 6 feet himself, shone in amusement at the waving finger. It had been a while since the fox last saw surprise on this scale from his partner, and it brought him joy to see his friend begin to act like the knucklehead he once knew.

" **Hahaha, don't act so surprised Naruto. Neither of us knew what kind of abilities you would have after the Rinne-Sharingan mutated to bond to your genes. But for your Kamui space to actually be a whole other world or even universe and allow me to manifest myself, how extraordinary.** " Kurama swept his gaze about the dimension while blatantly ignoring the second question.

The corner of Naruto's eye twitched at Kurama's far less intense disbelief before his brows furrowed in confusion. It simply didn't make any sense; compared to Obito's space, it was like trying to compare a water balloon to a planet - there simply was no comparison. Had it been just the size, he could have easily attributed the difference to him having a larger chakra pool. But as for the grass, the mountains, the _sun_?

Impossible.

As he went through the possibilities, a sneaking suspicion came to mind. Out of everyone he fought, only four people had spacetime powers related to dimensions: Kakashi, Sasuke, Obito, and...

" _Could it be...Kaguya?_ "

It was a worrying thought, but not an entirely unexpected one considering what the seal on his abdomen was designed to do. Glancing down at his bandaged arm, Naruto banished the thought for now. " _Besides, it's not the first time such a thing happened._ "

Now was the time to wonder about what ifs, but rather to prepare for the inevitable fight, starting with his new abilities. For the past thirty years, he had been hard at work adapting to the Yin side of the Six Paths and now, with only a few years left, he had to not determine what abilities the eyes granted him, but also mesh them with his fighting style. Slamming his palms together, Naruto sent a spark of chakra running to his storage seals. A small cloud of smoke exploded around him, much to the irritation of the giant fox. Huffing out in annoyance, the faint obstruction was blown away, revealing six legendary bodies laying before Naruto.

Senju Hashirama

Senju Tobirama

Senju Tsunade

Uzumaki Mito

Uchiha Itachi

Uchiha Sasuke

Suddenly, several clones of Naruto appeared from behind him before they made their way to the corpses. Nothing had to be said between the two partners. The number and quality of the bodies along with the black rods slipping from their hands all pointed towards one thing.

These bodies of shinobi, all who have altered history in their own way, were to become his new six paths. And as Naruto began the process of making his paths, Kurama tilted his head at the sheer power laying before him before shaking his head. " _It's not enough in the end. Although each of these humans were once something great, some capable of subjugating entire shinobi villages on their lonesome, they'll only be mere annoyances against her. So why is he doing this?_ "

When the final rod was inserted, six pairs of ringed eyes abruptly snapped open as their owners sat up and scanned the surroundings without intercepting each other's line of sight. But when a certain busty blonde caught sight of her fellow blond, a glimmer of confusion entered her and the others' Rinnegan eyes.

"N-Naruto? What...why?"

"Calm yourself Tsunade, and look at his eyes. Then all will be explained." Tobirama, ever the cool one quickly noticed how he seemed to have six other visual points despite only having two eyes.

Beside them, Naruto also stood there, stunned as realized that his mentors still retained their memories, unlike Nagato's paths. Quickly getting over it, he brushed his hands of invisible dust before saying nostalgically, "We have much to talk, baa-chan, owwww!"

A small fist quickly reminded who he was talking to as he sailed into the horizon, a gold shooting star going in reverse.

Kurama snorted in amusement.

"Haven't seen that in a while."

_Two Months Later_

As it turned out, all those years of constantly suffering body-tearing pain didn't leave completely without benefits. His originally massive chakra reserves had grown exponentially ever since Kurama had absorbed the entirety of his other half and his siblings. Utilizing a reservoir of chakra comparable to Kurama's when he was divided in two, hundreds of thousands if not millions of clones surrounded by various elements and creations covered the now pockmarked land. As for the original...

"Oof!" A tanned fist slammed into a red samurai chest piece, creating an imprint of said fist in it. The earth rumbled as the first Hokage, Hashirama, was sent flying through dozens of trees before grinding to a halt in a trench made from his own body.

Groaning, Hashirama slowly began to pull himself out of the crater afore the same hand that knocked him into it appeared above him. A bright grin lit up his face as he grabbed the hand. "I say Naruto, you certainly have gotten stronger. If was still alive, I might have been killed by that punch." Dusting himself off, his Rinnegan met bright cerulean ones. "To think you you're still wearing those resistance seals Mito created. Incredible."

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head; even after all these years, that habit of his hadn't changed. "No, I'm just grateful you all didn't mind me summoning your souls from the Pure Lands," a sorrowful glint entered his downturned eyes as he mumbled, "...even if it's only temporary."

These past months in his dimension, despite it only being a week outside (he still didn't understand what happened), were the happiest he had in several decades. Free from the crippling pain and training with people he loved and respected, it was a bliss he didn't expect for the rest of his life.

But he knew...he knew all of this was merely momentary. Already, he could feel them approaching the barrier that separated the Elemental Nations from the rest of the world and soon, they too will leave him.

A strong hand landed on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto," an uncharacteristic serious look shone from Hashirama's eyes. "Don't let it get to you, we all knew this moment was going to come sooner or later. I'm not going to pretend to understand how it feels to be immortal, to continue to exist while everyone else returns to dust. But I do know this; we are shinobi, we are the ones who endure! And remember," the first God of Shinobi brightly grinned as he laid a hand on Naruto's heart, "you are never alone. You have Kurama, but most of all, as long you have us in your heart, we too shall live on!"

_Drip...drip...drip_

Tears that nobody alive has ever seen began to stream down the corners of Naruto's eyes as five pairs of hands of different sizes, colors, and feeling landed on his other shaking shoulder. Looking around, he gazed at the friends, mentors, legends, and rival as they too did the same, all of them engraving the memory of each other.

They knew today would be the last day they would see each other.

"Tch dobe, why are you crying? The rival I had would never give up so easily as long there was a way. Who knows, maybe one day the barrier around our home will fall and we'll meet again. So go show the world what the last and greatest shinobi can do." Sasuke lightly quirked the corner of his lips upwards into a familiar smirk before leveling a fist towards Naruto. All around, the others also grinned, but didn't say anything; with their words, Hashirama and Sasuke already expressed everything in their hearts.

"Goodbye, Naruto."

Brushing the tears from his eyes, Naruto also toothily smiled, his eyes crinkled up, as he too lifted his fist to smack against his rival's, no, his brother from another life, fist. Neither moved until the life flickered away from the Uchiha's eyes, his hand limply falling to his side. Steadily, the other hands on his shoulders also fell, their eyes now but cold mirrors as they stared at their master.

Letting his own hand fall, Naruto whispered, "Goodbye...brother."

Far away, Kurama closed his crimson eyes, turning away as his only friend fell to his knees and surrounded by cold puppets, howling towards the sky like a wounded wolf as the world took his loved ones for a second time.

Perhaps he could break through the barrier and retrieve their souls, but he could never deny them the company of their family. Then again, maybe one day he'll do so.

But that's a story for another time.

_Two Months Later_

Powerful shockwaves capable of decimating countries thundered through the Kamui dimension as Naruto and his clones engaged in fierce combat, their fists and feet seeking to beat the other into submission. Off in the distance, what seemed like thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of clones watched the show while practicing their own set of jutsus and chakra natures. It was only when a tail as large as any mountain slammed down, causing a devastating earthquake, that made the blonds stop. Beads of sweat trailed down the original's neck and past the small diamond tattoo of the Byakugou seal Tsunade and Mito specially modified for him, a seal which constantly absorbed and compressed the surrounding nature energy to unbelievable levels, before storing them away.

Sweeping his Rinne-Sharingan towards the towering fox, Naruto raised a saffron eyebrow. "Did something happen Kurama?"

Looking into those eyes, the Juubi suppressed a small shudder when he remembered how those eyes could use all of the Mangekyō Sharingan abilities of the previous Uchihas, never mind the unknown ones that lurked beneath those spinning tomoe. Hell, he even decided to hide the unique ability Naruto's right eye could wield, so worried he was of the possibility that his friend might try to right then and there try break through the barrier around the Elemental Nations. Pushing away such thoughts, he rested his furry cheek on his fist.

" **Nothing happened brat...other than the first sign of land we've seen in the past four months. Then again, if you're not interested, perhaps we could...** "

Several hundred puffs of smoke exploded. Dusting himself off, the Rinne-Sharingan began to spin as Naruto prepared to exit his dimension.

"Nope, as pure the nature energy is here, I was getting sick of just seeing myself and your ugly mug. Let's go!"

" **BRAT, YOU DARE...!** "

Notes:

Kamui - Authority of the Gods


	3. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

By the time the clone spotted land, the full moon was already high up in the night sky. With a slight turn of the wheel, Naruto's clone immediately made a straight beeline for the sandy shore, completely unconcerned with the way the hull groaned in protest as it slammed through protruding rocks and reefs; besides the fact the ship had taken worse hits from some of the more...hostile denizens of the sea, the duplicate's chakra reserves were almost depleted from constantly maintaining a steady energy output, calming several hurricanes and cyclones, and taking care of said denizens that looked suspiciously like sea snakes.

It hated snakes.

Not bothering to decrease the speed despite the swiftly approaching shoreline, the clone cut through the waves before promptly grounding the ship. Its task complete, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. The instant it did, a perfect copy of itself, except for a few extra ruffles and rips here and there on his clothes, appeared on the prow, his pupils dilated as he peered through the darkness at the surrounding beach and forest.

"Just water, sand, trees, and a couple of squirrels." Jumping off the ship and onto actual dry land for the first time in several months, Naruto stored away the vessel before immediately casting a sensory net over the next hundred miles, not sure what to expect from the new continent. What he sensed...was less than he expected.

Deep in a cave within his mindscape, Kurama yawned in boredom when he processed what his host felt. " **Well, that's disappointing. To think the strongest human within a hundred miles doesn't even have Genin-level chakra. If the rest of the continent is this pathetic, I might as well just nap for the next few years until we either move on or when Kaguya breaks out.** " Snorting in disdain, giant fox dropped his head between his paws.

Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes at his partner's contempt for the land's people. "Not everything has to be about fighting Kurama. Who knows, maybe we'll find something interesting enough to not bore you into a coma." Chiding the fox, he leaped onto a tree near the shore before beginning to tree-hop his way through the forest.

 **"Tch, you better be right about that kid. And don't be such a hypocrite; you enjoy a good fight as much as I do.** "

Naruto laughed at that. The fox was right after all - he loved a good fight like the next shinobi. "You know, if you're really that bored, we could always have a showdown back in my Kamui space," he replied while making his way through the forest.

" **Oh?** **Do you really enjoy getting flattened under my tails that much brat? Because if you do, that can be arranged...** "

Almost slipping off a branch, Naruto quickly regained his footing before beginning to ascend what seemed to be the first of two mountains. "You do that, and I'll tie your tails into a knot like last time!"

Kurama growled at the _mere_ memory of his last humiliating loss to the blond. " **Naruto, if you so much as mention tying my tails into a knot again, I will** **Bijūdama your ass to oblivion.** "

"Not before I Rasengan..."

Smirking, the fox continued to playfully banter with his host, with each remark getting more and more ridiculous. Through it all, despite seemingly furious over Naruto's words, inwardly, the Kurama was more than relieved to finally see his partner break away from his emo ways. Ever since they left the Elemental Nations, the blond had improved at a steady pace over the past few months, and not just in strength, but mentally as well. Yawning in true satisfaction for the first time in many years, he silently muttered, " **It truly was the correct decision to leave.** "

On the other side, after an hour of tree hopping over several mountains, Naruto eventually landed on the shore of a vast lake of incomparable purity. Across the clear waters, he saw the tall walls of a city he could already tell was larger than any he had ever seen. From what he could see from his low vantage point, the city in front of him could easily fit two, if not three Konohas within its limits. On any other day, he might have exclaimed at its sheer size, or been tempted to enter and explore what the city had to offer.

But not tonight.

At this moment, his full attention was fixed on the ominous-looking mountain of bare rock several miles away from the city. Blacker than night during a new moon, the four-pronged landform, which towered a mile high, oozed a miasma of hatred, agony, fear, hopelessness. For Naruto, it felt like somebody just chidori'd his face.

"What is this? How can something have such a disgusting aura that I can feel it all the way from here?" Naruto steadied himself on the branch as he called out, "Kurama, did you feel that?"

" **I did brat, and even if it doesn't compare to me, there must be something seriously wrong in this land for such negativity to radiate from the first city we've come across.** " The giant fox growled in the mindscape, having felt it from the memories he just viewed.

"Well Kurama, shall we check what's over there? We might be able to finally get information of what kind of place we're in."

" **Might as well. Perhaps this won't be so boring after all.** "

With that, Naruto jumped on top of the lake before heading towards the mountain. Along the way, he spotted a group of people, well over half of them with their heads covered and hands restrained, going to the mountain.

" _Well, that's not suspicious at all._ " Naruto deadpanned. Adjusting his course, he kept a safe distance from the slow moving group while flipping through several hand seals.

"Tōton Jutsu." Within an instant, his body faded away as whatever light there was bent itself around his form, concealing him form and shadow from anyone looking his way. Leaping off the lake, he silently made his way past the others and behind a large rock jutting out of the mountain, where he had a clear view of everything. The closer he grew to the giant landform, the more disgusted he grew. The unpleasantly familiar smell of rotten corpses and old blood that rolled off it made him frown.

" _Just how did it come to this? For the mountain to smell like this, countless men had to have died. More importantly, how could the city allow such an abomination to have happened?_ " Naruto wondered, watching a minute later, the group of humans stopped several feet from the mountain, the air thick with fear and panic...only to gradually be replaced with what felt like...indifference? His eyes narrowed when he spotted two humans in black cloaks, their hooded faces hidden in shadow suddenly emerge from the mountain beneath him. His nose twitched when he smelled a distinctly foul smell, separate from the mountain's, in the air.

"Some kind of gas? Is this the reason behind their blank eyes?" Naruto muttered, glancing between the two strangers and the blankly staring group. The seconds slowly ticked away as the newcomers swept through the crowd, odd clucking noises coming from the hoods now and again. Then they stopped.

What he saw next horrified him. With a flick of their wrists, the two beings unhooded themselves, displaying bird-like faces with a huge beaks, and started to devour nearest drugged humans. Unable to watch any longer, Naruto shunshin'd behind one of the two monsters, a summoned kunai in hand. With a swift stab, he buried the entire length of the blade into the shorter one's skull with a sickening crunch before sweeping it towards its companion, only for the second creature to duck, its sword a mere flicker of silver as it instinctively stabbed towards the man who killed its brood brother.

To no avail.

With a scream and burst of blood, the monster felt his arm holding the sword be sliced off, the limb still tightly clutching his weapon. Howling in pain and rage, he stabbed his pointed beak towards Naruto's head in a desperate attempt to surprise or hopefully kill his ambusher, before choking when an unstoppable force closed around his throat and slammed him into the side of the mountain. Struggling, his fingers scrabbled over the hand unmercifully squeezing his throat, only to cough when his assailant grabbed his remaining arm and effortlessly snapped it like dry kindling.

"Who...?" Growing limp, the monster weakly hissed, ceasing its futile struggles as it stared into a cold pair of purple eyes ringed in black. Without a word, he helplessly watched in despair as a palm grasped at his face. As his vision went black, the last thing he heard was...

"Ningendo."

A soul-chilling ripping sound filled the air as Naruto tore the Ra'zac's soul from his body. Closing his eyes, he skimmed through the Ra'zac's memories, his face twisted into a silent snarl as saw all of the helpless faces the Ra'zac feasted on, their methods of torture, the two leathery bat things currently away from the forsaken rock, and finally the blurry face of a man with a mountain-like black dragon half the size Kurama was when he was the Kyuubi behind him and piles of bodies in the background.

When he tried to see past the blurriness, the image shattered with only a whisper of _King Galbatorix_. Naruto frowned as he didn't expect the memory to just shatter. As he further reviewed the memories, he came across a more recent memory of them killing an old man who shielded a boy with a silvery palm with a smaller blue dragon behind him. As he dug deeper, he found a name, Eragon, as well as another name, Varden. After reviewing several more memories, it grew clear, whoever this Eragon was, the boy was of utmost importance to them and their backer.

Flashing past several more memories, one of which included the Ra'zac killing another middle-aged man who fell in front of the boy to take a dagger for him, found the two things he killed already deduced that Eragon, with no other options, would flee towards the Varden. As he looked for memories of the Varden, all he got was an approximate location in an enormous range of mountains that touched the sky called the Beor Mountains in the far east across a large desert. As he searched for anything regarding the Varden, he also noted the language, immediately setting aside a few thousand clones in his Kamui space, but most importantly...

"Magic, so that's how the natives use their chakra." Naruto mused as he watched in wonder at how the use of a few weird words managed to conjure fire, wind, and several other more arcane effects. But before he could delve deeper into the memories, a groan behind him alerted him the men once meant to be the creatures' supper were coming to. Grabbing the other Ra'zac's corpse, he vanished in a swirl of darkness; now was not the time to carelessly reveal himself to the Empire, as he found from the Ra'zac's memories, especially if this King Galbatorix was the kind of man he suspected to be.

Blinking away the light of the midday sun, Naruto tossed the Ra'zacs' bodies away, unwilling to even touch their disgusting bodies a second longer. Sitting down, he crossed his arms as a pensive look appeared on his face.

The ground trembled as a series of booms rang through the air. A few seconds later, a towering shadow blotted out the sun, covering the blond in its shade. But other than heavy breathing, the giant ten-tailed fox stayed silent, settling to merely stare at his friend as he waited for him to speak first. He didn't have to wait long.

"What should we we do now Kurama? All I wanted was to get away from the Elemental Nations for some peace and quiet, but not only is this land far from peaceful, but there is war going on against an immortal king."

" **...** "

Naruto continued to rant, uncaring of what the fox didn't say. "It's like Kaguya all over again damnit. Not to mention there's all this weird voodoo magic going on. Although I doubt it could harm us, we should find somewhere to learn more about it." Running his bandaged hand through his hair, he sighed in frustration. "But I doubt the Empire, or rather the King, will exactly be happy to share such knowledge, especially after I killed his hunting dogs. But if I go to the Varden, they'll no doubt try to force me into their war in exchange for knowledge. It doesn't matter if their side is righteous or not, war is war."

He paused before muttering, "And war never changes."

Behind him, Kurama tilted his head to the side, his tails lazily swaying in the air. " **So what will you do now?** "

Naruto closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he ran through every detail he could of the war between the Empire and the Varden. Even if he loved a good fight, he had long grown tired of killing. And from what he saw, he could envision a future where tens, or even hundreds of thousands would die, their blood soaking the earth as they fought for a cause they no doubt considered noble and just. And he couldn't blame the Varden; from what he saw, he would do the same in their shoes. For a second, he considered simply assassinating the mad king and being done with it.

" _But I can't. Even if I kill him, the Empire is already so corrupt, the aristocrats would at best place another cruel king in his place, and at worst create a greater civil war as they fought for their own independence. The common people would continue to die and plunge the land deeper into chaos._ "

And so he had a choice: either ignore the war and simply continue on his journey, wherever it may lead and train with all his might to improve his body and techniques...or join the Varden and lend them a helping hand, once again returning to the battlefield as a reaper of lives, a god of slaughter. History hung in the balance on his decision, lives he didn't know of unknowingly depending on his answer.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto lightly breathed out, a bitter smile on his lips. "...I never had a choice, did I? So be it!" Standing up, he glanced behind him at the giant fox who stared at him, still waiting for his decision before asking in a firm tone.

"Kurama, are you ready to go to war?"

A wide, toothy grin split the fox's face as his crimson pupils crazily flashed with a bloodthirsty light. " **I thought you would never ask brat! Let's do this!** " Kurama roared out in laughter, his elation shaking the dimension. Ever since Naruto became Hokage, nobody dared to even consider fighting them, making the fox so bored he slept for years at a time. " _ **But now...**_ " He licked his lips at the mere thought of the coming bloodshed.

"Alright then." Naruto focused on a certain image within the Ra'zac's memories he knew to be the approximate location of his goal. Softly he uttered to himself, "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."

"Kamui!"

Notes:

Tōton Jutsu - Transparent Escape Technique

Shunshin no Jutsu - Body Flicker Technique


	4. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

As Naruto appeared in a swirl at the entrance of the Beor Mountains, he immediately saw a trail of large footprints and broken branches heading deep into the mountains. "Well well well, it would seem that this Eragon has the same gift of getting into major trouble as I did when I was younger."

" **What are you talking about brat? You still do, or did you forget about the Ra'zac already?** " Kurama didn't let his friend forget what happened just minutes ago.

"That…that doesn't count, furball! Anyways, let's find this guy." Naruto huffed as he jumped into the trees to follow the trail. As he made his way through the mountains, he noted a particular spot where several large rocks buried more than a few of what he identified as Urgals and Kull from the Ra'zacs' memories.

" _Huh, wonder if it was the dragon that did it, or the boy?_ " No matter the answer, Naruto's interest only continued to grow as he picked up the pace, turning into nothing more than a yellow and orange blur.

A few minutes later, his ears twitched when the roar of a waterfall rumbled through the air. Jumping onto the top of an ancient pine, Naruto spotted a host of about 300 or more Urgals and their larger cousins. Just half a mile in front of the small army, he also noticed a much smaller group fleeing from them along a narrow path. From his higher vantage point, he picked out who was in the group, noting the addition of a stunningly beautiful, but obviously ill woman he identified as an elf on a horse, and a dark-haired man. Glancing to the side, he took a sharp intake of breath at the sight of a dragon covered with iridescent blue scales underwater.

Then he sent a pulse of chakra into his eyes.

" _How...fascinating._ "

With the Rinne-Sharingan, Naruto gazed at the connection between Eragon and the dragon. It was similar to those between his paths and him, yet so much brighter and more alive.

Then he frowned.

A fierce roar bellowed through the valley when the dragon sprang from the water to snap at an Urgal wielding a spear before tearing away the offending weapon. However, just as she was about to drag is owner into the depths, his companions thrusted their own spears at her, bloodying her nose. Back on land, Naruto watched as Eragon pounded on the cliff next to the falls while yelling 'Aí varden abr du Shur'tugals gata vanta!'. Next to the boy, his ally hurled his sword into the chest of a Kull sneaking up behind them before darting forward to retrieve his weapon.

"They're not going to last much longer." It was obvious to Naruto they were struggling, from the dark circles under both Eragon's and his companion's eyes to the numerous small tears and arrows lodged in the dragon's wings. But just as he was about to jump in to help, he stared as chakra rush from Eragon's mind to his silvery palm.

"Jierda theirra kalfis!" Sharp cracks resounded off the cliffs followed by harsh screams as around 20 of the Urgals fall while clutching their legs where bone protruded. Narrowing his eyes, he saw Eragon suddenly lean against the dragon in obvious weariness, the well of energy suddenly almost drained.

"Hmmm, so that's magic. Interesting. I wonder..." Naruto pondered before shaking his head. "Whatever, that can be thought on later. Time to intervene, they look like as if they're on their last legs."

* * *

On the ground, Eragon stared at the cliffs next to the waterfall as his mind tried to process that nothing happened after he uttered the words to gain entry to the Varden. His mind was snapped back when Murtagh shouted out, "What now? We can't stay here!"

As Eragon was about to respond, a man with gravity-defying blonde hair in a white trench coat with some kind of language he didn't know suddenly appeared in front of them and the tide of Urgals. For just a moment, the battlefield stilled as both sides tried to process where exactly this person came from.

As soon as he was about to ask who the person was, the stranger turned around and said with a strange accent and now visible cerulean eyes. "Yo, you look like as if you need some help. Just stay back for a moment kids, this will all be over soon."

Swiftly getting over his surprise, Eragon was about to tell the man to run and get behind Saphira before he saw Naruto go through several hand signs and suddenly inhale. But what stunned him came afterwards as he heard the words, "Katon: Goka Mekkyaku!"

"Ah!" Yelling out in shock and pain, Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira all covered their eyes and faces when a blinding ocean of pure white flames shot out of Naruto's mouth and engulfed the entire Urgal and Kull army with such intense heat and brightness.

" _What kind of flames are these? My whole body feels as if it's being roasted over a giant bonfire. No, it's worse!_ "

When the flames ended, the trio jaws dropped to the forest floor when they looked at the devastation that the fire caused. Not a single tree still stood as water rushed to refill the evaporated gap in the lake. Only ashes covered the floor, with nothing left of the vaporized Urgals and Kull.

Growling at Naruto, Saphira instinctively shielded her Rider and Murtagh behind her bulk. " _Eragon, be careful of this man._ _Even if we were at full power, I doubt that we could even scratch him. Look at him, those flames should have cost an enormous amount of energy, yet he's just standing there as if nothing happened!_ " Behind her, Eragon nodded in understanding before stepping out from his dragon's shadow.

"Thank you stranger, for saving us. Another minute, and we might have all died." Eragon bowed his head in gratitude at Naruto. "But I must ask...who are you? Are you a magician, or a Dragon Rider? Where did you come from and how did you do that? Those words were not of the ancient language from what I know."

"Hmmm, from where I come from, it is only polite that the one asking the questions should provide his identity first." Naruto cocked his head to the side before shrugging. "Then again, I never was one for niceties. Very well then, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. And no, I'm not a magician or a Dragon Rider, just a simple traveller. As for your last question..." When his voice trailed off, the small group leaned in, only for the blond to suddenly grin. "...that's a secret!"

The dragon snorted in exasperation while Eragon and Murtagh rolled their eyes at the blond, much of their caution dispelled by the sudden levity. Noticing Naruto gesture towards them, Eragon nodded before introducing himself and the others.

"My name is Eragon and the man beside me is Murtagh. As for her," A fond light flashed through Eragon's eyes as he patted his dragon's snout, "her name is Saphira."

Naruto smiled at the display of affection before getting to the heart of the matter. "Anyways, introductions aside, I believe you guys were headed to the Varden?"

In an instant, the cordial atmosphere dissipated as Eragon, Murtagh, and to a lesser extent Saphira tensed, although she hid it well.

After several seconds, Eragon observed the man in front of him as he cautiously questioned, "What do you want with them? Do you want to join them?"

With a slight tilt of his head, Naruto nodded. "Sure, let's go with that."

After a few more seconds of staring, Eragon eventually relented and sighed. It's not as if either him or the group combined could really do anything against Naruto. "Yes, we're here to join the Varden, although for some reason we weren't granted entry even after following all of the directions Arya left us."

" _Little One, I believe I know why it didn't work. We're on the wrong side of the lake! I've seen the elf's memories, and I just realized that this isn't the right place._ " Saphira informed through their link.

Eragon just face palmed. How did he make such a simple mistake? "Naruto, Murtagh, Saphira found out that the entrance to the Varden is on the other side of the lake."

"Really?" Naruto mused as he measured the not so insignificant distance to the other side of the lake. " _Hmmm, if it were just me, I could just water-walk to the other side with no problem...Then again, I could just carry them while water walking. Alright let's just do that._ "

"Hey Eragon, could Saphira fly you and the elf towards the other side?" After getting confirmation from Eragon, Naruto continued, "Then do so. I got a plan."

As Eragon started to mount Saphira while bringing along Arya, Murtagh walked over to whisper, "Do you think this is a good idea? Can we trust him to not just kill us after we get into the Varden?"

"There's not much of a choice, is there? Even if we were at full strength, Saphira told me that it would still be useless to fight him; we wouldn't even scratch him." Eragon replied as Murtagh just grunted, not comforted at all by his words.

As Eragon, Arya, and Saphira landed on the other side, Naruto instructed Murtagh to get on one of the horses and keep both of them calm, a task Eragon had to help with. Once Murtagh was ready, Naruto suddenly picked both of the horses up and started to sprint across the water.

Eragon just stared with his mouth dropping to the floor for the second time that day and thought, " _Great, he can create flames that can annihilate a small army and not appear tired, has enough strength to lift two horses and a man, and now he can walk on water. Just what can't this guy do? What's next, teleportation?_ " Saphira just stared at Naruto while filing away the information for later. While not completely hostile to the stranger, it didn't hurt to start compiling information on him.

After Naruto arrived at the other shore and placed down the shaken looking Murtagh, he looked at Eragon, who nodded and walked up to the cliffside before shouting, "Aí varden abr du Shur'tugals gata vanta!" while banging a rock he found.

Moments later, there was a clanking behind the waterfall as two twelve-foot thick stone doors opened to reveal a broad tunnel nearly thirty feet tall and a small group of men and dwarves. The 6 men and 4 dwarves came through and observed wide-eyed the destruction of the forest behind the intruders as well as the smoking puddles of Urgal and Kull. Immediately their eyes settled on the them, as a bald man who radiated arrogance and utmost disdain from what Naruto could feel looked at Eragon on his dragon and commanded, "You say you are a dragon rider? Then prepare to be scanned: you and your companions."

Notes:

Jierda theirra kalfis - Break their calves

Katon: Goka Mekkyaku - Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation

Aí varden abr du Shur'tugals gata vanta - A warden of the Riders lacks passage


	5. The Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

Naruto narrowed his eyes when he saw the way the bald man looked at Murtagh and him with contempt as if they were but pieces of filth. He knew those kinds of eyes; they were the same eyes the villagers had when they looked at him when he was but a child.

As the doors closed with a low thud, Eragon tried to inform the group of men and dwarves of the sickly elf on Saphira's back. "Wait, there's an injured…"

"Stop! It must wait until you have been tested." The bald man retorted.

"But we have…" Eragon said while starting to see a little red.

"Silence! Or we will throw you out…" The bald man glared at the teenager.

Naruto had enough. While he didn't know who the elf was, she was obviously important enough for Eragon to insist on getting treated. His eyes glowing a murderous blue, he unleashed a fraction of killing intent on the bald man, causing him to suddenly drop to his knees and start regurgitating everything in his stomach, much to everyone's surprise.

"Enough of this farce. We have an injured elf who looks like she has been poisoned. If you continue to hinder the healing of this elf, I will make what happened outside look like a mere firecracker after I am done with you." Naruto coldly threatened before withdrawing his killing intent, once more looking like an ordinary, if very handsome man.

Not daring to disobey, the bald man merely nodded as fast he could, spraying sweat everywhere as he did so. As one of the dwarves went to take a look at the elf, he immediately said with widened eyes, "Barzul, it's Arya the dragon-egg courier! Egraz Carn, you fool! If she had died while here, Ajihad and Queen Islanzadí would have our heads!"

The bald man, who slowly got up from his knees while looking maliciously at Naruto, bitterly said, "I understand Orik. I will bear all responsibility. You two there! Get her off the dragon and to the healers, now!"

As they carefully undid the straps around Arya, Eragon quickly informed, "She was poisoned with the Skilna Bragh while in prison. Only Túnivor's Nectar can save her now."

The immediate problem gone, the bald man then pointed at Eragon. "Be ready to be scanned first."

Before the bald man started to inspect Eragon's mind, Orik grunted, "Careful Egraz Carn. You have almost doomed the Varden by not treating Arya. If you cause unnecessary harm to the Dragon Rider, despite your importance, you may be a head shorter."

"Humph, I understand." The bald man snorted before uttering a few inaudible words under his breath.

Naruto watched Eragon suddenly gasp with obvious pain and shock, eyes narrowed at the spectacle.

" _To be able to directly break into a person's mind like the Yamanaka Clan, that's annoying. But for Eragon to display such pain...knowing Eragon, he wouldn't hide anything necessary as long his friends are in potential danger, which means this bald man, Egraz Carn, is intentionally doing harm to his mind._ " Naruto felt his fingers twitch as darker thoughts of simply killing the man flashed through his mind before he crushed them. Ever since inheriting the Yin half of the Six Paths Sage chakra, the number of thoughts he never would have considered before had increased.

" _Although not as bad as before, I still have to be careful not to fall prey to my own thoughts._ _Anyways, this..torture has gone on long enough._ " Naruto sighed before marching over towards the bald man.

Just as the Egraz was about to pierce ever deeper into the boy's mind, Naruto grabbed his neck, disrupting the concentration needed to continue reviewing Eragon's memories, ignoring the swords and axes raised towards him.

"Enough of this. It is obvious that you are causing Eragon unnecessary pain and are trying to make him retaliate so you can crush him."

With wide eyes, Orik looked at the bald man in shock and snarled, "You dare to try to harm the rider? My king and Ajihad will hear about this."

As the bald man paled with the implications of his actions, Naruto asked Orik, "Why not just get another spell caster to conduct the rest of the search. Even if they are not as powerful, as long both parties are willing, it would seem that no harm would come to either one." Naruto glared at Egraz, challenging him to question his suggestion. The bald man quickly looked away while Orik looked at Naruto in interest and nodded his agreement. After all, not just anyone could make one of the Twins look away in fear in their first meeting.

"Now, we've had a trying day and are hungry and tired. While I'm sure that your leaders want to see us, I believe that can wait until tomorrow when everyone is rested and your leaders are ready with their questions." Naruto suggested.

Orik again nodded in agreement. "That is true. You will still be under guard for all hours of the day, but no one will disturb your rest until my king and Ajihad want to see you. However, I will have to ask all of you to hand over your weapons."

Naruto looked at Eragon and Murtagh, and after getting nods of agreement, he said, "That is fine, though I don't have much on me. You see, I'm more of a traveler than a warrior."

Everyone just sweat dropped, especially Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira, who remembered what happened outside.

" _Bullshit_."

After turning over their weapons and scroll, Naruto and the others were lead to a large enough room for all of them, including Saphira. As Naruto sat down on the other side of the room from Eragon and his party, Saphira turned to look at him as she pulled at his consciousness.

After determining that the dragon meant no harm, Naruto allowed contact with but a sliver of his mind while keeping Kurama and Kaguya hidden away from the dragon.

" _Hello, as you know, my name is Saphira, Eragon's partner._ "

" _It is a pleasure to meet you Saphira. Truly, it is an honor to finally speak with such a magnificent and beautiful being as yourself._ " Naruto thought back, while ignoring Kurama's disdainful scoff. Let it be known, that Naruto had more than enough experience in diplomatic talks during his time as Hokage.

" _If you would pardon me, you don't seem to be a native from Alagaesia, but you are not even surprised to see me. Most humans from Alagaesia would show some sign of fear or discomfort. Do you mind telling me why?_ " Saphira asked with shining eyes as she shivered at the enormity of the blonde's mind.

" _I am indeed foreign to these lands, although I hope you keep that hidden from everyone but Eragon until I am ready to tell others. As for my comfort of you being in front of me, let's just say I have seen bigger and more terrifying things during my life and have lived to tell the tale._ " Naruto replied with an eye smile while Saphira wondered just how eyes could move like that. It was simply unnatural.

" _Very well. I will keep it a secret from others except Eragon. It is after all, your secret to tell._ " Saphira said while withdrawing from contact.

Before falling asleep, the last thing Naruto did was whisper, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," and have the clone use the Tōton Jutsu to listen in on the conversation between Eragon and Murtagh.

_A Few Hours Later_

Naruto and the others woke up when they heard the door open after a knock. Orik, the bald man and several other men walked in.

After handing back Naruto and Eragon's group their weapons and scroll, the bald man said, "Our leader wants to with with you now. Follow us" while keeping his eyes away from Naruto.

Right after leaving the room, Naruto dispelled his kage bunshin and thought, " _Huh, it would seem this Murtagh is the son of Morzan. According to the Ra'zac's memories, Morzan was also a Dragon Rider, but then turned traitor in favor of Galbatorix. Judging from what he said about his past, he did not have the greatest childhood or life…this reminds me of my own childhood. Except he turned into a dark and broody person like Sasuke-teme. I'll have to keep an eye on him and try to bring away from the shadow of his father._ "

As the group headed down several extremely large hallways of exact geometry, Naruto spoke with Kurama in his mind. While he could not see Kurama while talking like this as opposed to going into his mindscape, he was able to pay attention to his surroundings at the same time.

" _Kurama, we're about to finally meet the leader of the Varden. What do you think we should tell him when he starts questioning our past?_ "

" **Humph, just say you sailed from across their Western Sea and arrived in Alagaesia several months ago. No need to reveal how quickly you crossed the entire continent within the span of a few seconds; he doesn't need to know that. If he still doesn't trust you, reveal those Ra'zac corpses. From what we learned, these Ra'zac have probably been a menace to the Varden since day 1. If that still doesn't work, you could just blast everything to pieces, take control, and then kill the king hehehe.** " Kurama responded with an evil laugh as Naruto sweat dropped at the last sentence. " **Now I'm going to go take a nap. Wake me when something interesting happens.** "

After an hour of walking through several hallways and even parading a tunnel full of other people, who wildly roared out the moment Eragon came out on Saphira and that Naruto deduced was the Varden, they finally came into view of a city made of marble the size of a mountain with a hole in the ceiling at least a mile above them.

"Be honored, for this is the first time in a century that a Rider has laid eyes on our greatest achievement, the mountain-city Tronjheim under the peak of Farthen Dûr, built by the founder of our race Korgan as he tunneled for gold thousands of years ago." Orik said proudly.

After entering the city and going down several more hallways, one of which held a monstrously large scarlet gem in the shape of a rose on its ceiling, Naruto and Eragon's group stood in front of a massive cedar door, darkened with age.

" _Well, here we go._ " Naruto thought.

Notes:

Barzul - a curse, ill fate

Ningendo - Human Path

Tronjheim - Helm of Giants

Farthen Dûr - Our Father


	6. Ajihad and Arya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

As the group entered the leader of the Varden's office, Naruto noted the somewhat plush quarters, with its intricate rug, quality furniture, and rows of bookshelves, and two bald men who looked like brothers. For a moment, the interior brought Naruto back to when he was Hokage and sitting in his office, also with books surrounding him; even the two bald men reminded him of the advisors of Konoha, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, before he dissolved the civilian council and kicked them out of his office.

The nostalgia lasted while Eragon recounted his tale: from the finding of Saphira's egg, the death of Brom by the hands of the Ra'zac, the rescue of Arya, the subsequent chase of the Urgal army, and finally the finding of the Varden. But the moment Murtagh spoke, apparently the leader of the Varden, Ajihad, recognized the voice and had the son of Morzan escorted out of his office and imprisoned.

While Naruto disapproved of the action, he did understand his concerns. Finally, the leader of the Varden turned to face Naruto and said, "Now then, who, or what are you?"

Taking a moment to take in the man's skin color that was so similar to those from Kumo, Naruto answered, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a simple traveler from beyond the Western Sea who wants to help the Varden against King Galbatorix, and the one who aided Eragon when he needed help the most."

A few moments passed by as Ajihad and the rest of people in the office digested what the blonde said. He didn't buy it for a second that this man was a mere _simple traveler_ , especially not after that sea of flames right at his doorstep. But the revelation that he was from beyond the Western Sea, where the elves and first humans were said to have come from, was even more unbelievable.

"Be that as it may, despite having helped Eragon, we in the Varden still cannot blindly trust you. After all, all of this may just be a ruse. So tell me, why should I trust you and let you join the Varden, one we have no information of?" Ajihad questioned.

"I see that you will not be so easily convinced. Very well, I respect your caution and as a fellow leader and I understand why you must make sure of who I am. You mentioned the Urgals could have been a mere distraction? Then what about this?" Naruto crossed his arms as the corpses of the two Ra'zac swirled in existence in front of him and onto the floor.

"Impossible, when did you do this? How did you do this?" Withdrawing his hand from Zar'roc, Eragon demanded as he looked at the corpses of the killers of his uncle and Brom laying at his feet. While he briefly felt a surge of anger towards Naruto for taking away his revenge, a part him felt relieved and lightened, knowing that the deaths of his loved ones were avenged and that the Ra'zac could no longer terrorize the innocent civilians of the Empire or the Varden.

"I see. Galbatorix would definitely never allow the Ra'zac deaths just for an agent to infiltrate the Varden. The price would be too high and the reward too low. So be it. Welcome to the Varden, Naruto." Ajihad waved for the bald men to take the corpses out for inspection.

"For your services for the Varden, the rescue of Eragon the Dragon Rider and the slaying of the Ra'zac, is there anything you want other than entry to the Varden?"

"Yes, although it is probably more directed towards Eragon. I wish to join him as his companion to wherever he goes as well as the release of Murtagh once has proven his loyalty against the Empire. Before you ask, I have been in the same position as Murtagh where people have judged the circumstances around me…rather than the actual me." Naruto answered.

Frowning, the black leader pondered for a minute before sighing. "Alright, your requests are granted, and should Eragon say yes, then I see no problem. Now go, just from your eyes I can see that you want to get to know your surroundings better, as well get more food and rest. Now then, Orik! Accompany them to their quarters."

As they left the office, Naruto rounded onto Eragon. "Eragon, I know you have many questions that need to be answered for you to have peace, but please, trust me to keep it from you for now. Once we know each other better, you will get all of your answers, and more."

Narrowing his eyes, Eragon stared at Naruto for a few seconds before shrugging. "Fine, but only because you have yet to do anything to harm us. We will however talk about you and why you want to accompany me later." Eragon said as he left with Saphira and Orik.

Several Days Later

Eragon walked alongside Orik and Saphira towards the training field in order to be tested in prowess in both magic and weapons. He thought back the several days in his head. He remembered the awe-inspiring power of Naruto, the meeting with Ajihad, the slaying of the Ra'zac, the meeting of Angela and Solembum, and the meeting with Hrothgar, King of Dwarves. But his mind kept going back to Naruto.

Just how strong was he? Did he really come from beyond the Western Sea? Why did he want to travel together with him? How should he feel towards him after discovering he killed the Ra'zac? But in the end, he questioned himself, just who was he? A simple farm boy that was just there at the right time and place, or a Dragon Rider destined for greatness and war? These questions kept pouring through his young mind until Orik announced that they were there at the training field.

A large man approached them with a sword that was almost as big as Eragon.

"Orik, it's been a while, there is no one left for me to fight with you gone."

Orik chuckled, "That's because no one wants to be smacked by that monster sword of yours."

Fedric, the big man, just shook his head. "But you can handle it easily enough."

Orik just waved the comment off with a hint of amusement. "That's because I am not as slow as you or an oaf."

Fedric developed a large tick on his forehead that violently twitched as Eragon and Saphira shared a chuckle in their bond at the two friend's banter. After a moment, Fedric turned towards Eragon and Saphira, looked over him, and greeted, "Dragon rider and Dragon." as Eragon and Saphira nodded back.

Fedric smiled. "Well, Ajihad said we would have to evaluate you, so what weapons do you use?"

"My sword and bow."

The big man continued to question. "Anything else?"

"…My fists."

Fedric just roared with laughter and then questioned, "Good one, but where is the other one. The foreigner?"

Just as Eragon was about to answer the they did not know, a hand suddenly appeared over Fedric's shoulder and gripped said shoulder. With a whirl, Fedric unsheathed his sword in a smooth motion and sliced towards where the person with the offending hand should be. But when turned around, he did not see anyone, whether alive or dead. Then a voice sounded out behind Eragon and Saphira, "Yo, sorry I was late …but I got lost on the path of life, so I tried to find another path but then a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take long way, but along the long way, there was an old lady with a heavy load, so I had to help carry the load." Naruto said with two eye smiles.

Several tumbleweeds floated across the training field and with Fedric, Orik, Eragon, and Saphira just staring at Naruto with twitching ticks on their foreheads. Eragon wondered, " _How is this the guy that took down the Ra'zac, the nightmare of humanity of the Empire and the Varden? Ugh, my head hurts just thinking about that. Are there even any cats, other than Solembum, in here?_ "

"Well, now that we're all here, we can finally start…" Fedric started to say before scowling angrily over Eragon's shoulder.

"Stop! We will, as commanded by Ajihad, test his proficiency in magic first. We don't need him to be tired from banging on pieces of metal like a savage before our test." The two bald Twins commanded arrogantly. The bald man that they first met even dared to meet Naruto's eyes while with his twin, although the fear was still there.

"Why can't someone else test him?" Fedric asked.

"Because no one else is strong enough." The Twins smugly smiled.

Naruto dropped his hand on Fedric's shoulder again and told him, "As much as I would like to put the Twins in their place, I want to see what this "magic" can really do."

"Hn, well I can't deny my curiosity as well." Fedric relented.

As the twins and Eragon got into position, Naruto subtly changed his eyes to the Rinne-Sharingan to better see this "magic" flow. When the Twins told Eragon to float a stone, Naruto almost rolled his eyes to the back of his head. "Are you serious? This is supposed to be magic, not some…show! Don't tell me next is making the stone go in circles…" Then the two bald men instructed Eragon to make the stone go around in a circle. A large tick developed on his forehead. "I swear Kami is making fun of me." Naruto cried out in anime tears while the rest of the field just looked at him strangely.

" _But still, it would seem that Eragon and Saphira are not just connected at a mental level. From what I've seen, Saphira can freely provide energy needed for these spells...quite similar to a jinchuuriki actually, except his 'Bijuu' is not sealed inside of him, but rather outside with him while still being able to help physically and through providing energy. Very interesting. However, those Twins seem to be interfering with Eragon's magic with their own. If I were to compare just energy levels, Eragon would appear to have high-genin reserves, Saphira mid-chunin reserves, and each twin around mid-genin, although it's obvious that their physical level is...lacking._ " Naruto mused as he watched Eragon go through several spells while resisting the Twins.

Finally, the Twins came to one last spell while presenting a ring. "Summon the essence of silver." Naruto saw the confusion on Eragon's face and quickly deduced that this was a magic that only masters knew. Before he could interfere, a voice as clear as the finest Suna crystal and as vibrant as the forests around Konoha rang out.

"Stop!"

Startled, Naruto turned towards in the direction of the voice, only to feel his breath hitch as he saw what had to be the epitome of physical beauty: taller than most women and almost level with his eyes, her voluminous black hair cascaded down the silky smooth skin of her nape to her slender waist, the gentle swell of her breasts still clearly visible underneath her scaled, black leather armor. Her eyes, shining with the luster of the purest emeralds flecked with vibrant gold, glared at the men with more regality than most human kings...as a strikingly melodious voice that promised pain thundered towards the Twins.

"Shame! Shame to ask of him what only a master can do. Shame that you should use such methods. Shame that you told Ajihad you didn't know Eragon's abilities. He is competent. Now leave!" Naruto watched as Arya raised her hand, pointed her finger at the ring, and imperiously declare, "Arget!"

Naruto's eye widened at the sight of a ghost like image of silver forming beside the ring, except this image seemed far purer, and even realer than even the original. But what most startled him was the Mid-Chunin chakra levels Arya was emitting; it was the highest he had encountered since arriving in Alagaesia, far higher than even the boy with a dragon.

As the Twins turned and ran from her, Arya both cautiously and curiously glanced at the blonde stranger, taking in his lean yet strong physique, from the corner of her eyes who, from what she was told, played a large role in why she was still alive.

" _F_ _rom his muscular build and the the way he holds himself, he is no doubt a_ _seasoned warrior, and furthermore, no stranger to the violence or war._ " Having been the ambassador between the elves and the Varden, Arya had seen hundreds, if not thousands of warriors of all shapes and sizes, whether they be human, dwarf, elf, or even Urgal; it didn't matter if most of his body was obscured by his clothes. As she continued to trail her eyes over Naruto, other than his strange attire, especially his footwear - were those toes poking out? - she didn't manage to see anything extraordinary about him, or at least anything that would indicate he had powers beyond those of any here; if the report she received after awakening was to be believed, even she would find it difficult to match him.

And that made him all the more dangerous.

However, when Arya reached out with her mind, she made a startling discovery that shocked her to her core. " _No...there is something else about this Naruto; its feels as if nature herself...twists around him, wanting to become one with him yet somehow can't; only the Menoa Tree has ever given me a similar feeling. Combined with his_ _blonde hair and blue eyes, I can't recall anyone like him in all my travels. Just who is he?_ "

Beginning to stride towards the center of the training field, Arya blinked in surprise when he saw Naruto abruptly flashed a rather cheeky grin at her; she didn't expect him to detect her discreet observation. _"Observant_ _too, just like..._ " Realizing where her thoughts were unwittingly taking her, she mercilessly crushed them while turning away from the shinobi. Something about Naruto bothered her, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

However, that was neither here nor there. Closing her eyes, Arya refocused on the task at hand.

" _For now, I must test Eragon's skills with a blade and see whether the Dragon Rider we sacrificed everything for is ready._ "

Stopping in the center of the training field, she banished all thoughts except one from her mind.

" _I must see if...if their deaths were worth it._ "

Unsheathing her sword, Arya pointed its slender blade at Eragon.

"I claim the right of trial by arms. Draw your sword."

Notes:

Arget - true name of silver


	7. The Duel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 4th Shinobi War has ended with the sealing of Kaguya and the Juubi in Naruto. As the years pass and his unwanted immortality becomes clear, what will Naruto do when everyone he once fought for returns to dust as the world about him changes? First Crossover with Inheritance Cycle. Second Crossover will possibly be Claymore.

The entire field quieted at Arya's words. After all, it was not every day for the common man to witness an elf fighting. Then another voice rang out.

"Wait." Naruto stepped forward. While he knew that he should probably just let Eragon and Arya duke it out, he still wanted to test just how strong an elf was with his own body.

"Why are you interfering with my trial by arms?" Arya questioned, confused why anyone would want to interfere with the trial.

"Well, my name is Naruto, and as to why I'm interfering, I also wish to also participate in this trial by arms." Naruto responded.

While the rest of the field just stared in silence, Arya merely raised an eyebrow. "I see, so how exactly do you propose to do this. Will you fight me 2-on-1?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the response. _"Quite confident, isn't_ she?" "No, of course not. But I do have a method where all three of us can fight each other one at a time without consuming too much stamina in the process. However, you, Eragon, and Saphira will have to trust me."

The mentioned trio looked at each other, and with a small amount of hesitation nodded. Arya questioned, "Will this involve us bringing down our mental barriers? Because if so, then I will not do this."

"It won't. If anything, it will involve bringing you three into my mind." Naruto chuckled.

"In that case, do it." Arya said.

"Alright. Now look into my eyes. Tsukuyomi!" Naruto said as the training field faded away, giving way to a blood red field.

"What is this place? Where have you brought us?" Arya looked about in wonder; never in her century long life has she ever seen anything like this.

"This is my Tsukuyomi, where I rule over time and space, where I am God of this space." Naruto announced, repeating the same words Itachi once used as Sasuke told him. "But in this case, I will make the both of you have the same amount of stamina and physical prowess you three have in the real world. Saphira, I brought you here in order for you to not worry about Eragon."

Refocusing her attention on the strange human, Arya drew her thin blade. "Very well, Eragon, draw your sword."

While Eragon was still confused at the technique, he did understand the purpose of doing this. As Eragon drew Zar'roc and got into his stance, he and Arya stared at each other while circling each other. However, the moment Eragon moved forward, Arya pounced.

" _Ho, she's fast._ " As Naruto watched Arya bat aside Eragon's sword like it was nothing, he revised his opinion, " _and strong._ " Naruto watched in interest as Eragon finally understood that the elf was far stronger and faster than him, and that this was the time to go all out. Immediately, Eragon began to execute a series of attacks at a speed that would make the men outside green with envy, but they were still slow in Naruto's eyes.

 _"Apparently, it's the same for her as well._ " Naruto mused as Arya countered each move with perfect precision while holding back enough that Eragon could fight and display everything he had. Finally, Eragon over-extended just a little too far with a lunge, which allowed Arya to sweep her sword up to his jawbone with a nimble sidestep.

As Eragon froze, there was a bugle and clapping from Saphira and Naruto respectively. Soon Arya lowered her sword and said, "You have passed."

"Well done. Now I will send you and Saphira out of this technique. Before you protest, you will have plenty of time to witness what I can do while we travel." Looking away from the pair, he ended technique for the two.

As Eragon and Saphira disappeared, Arya turned around to Naruto to ask, "I take it that you did not want Eragon to know of your true capabilities, or is it you did not want to frighten him?"

"Very good Arya, that is correct. I did not want Eragon to know of my abilities, at least my physical abilities, yet. I most of all did not want any of the Varden knowing just how powerful I am. If they did, that would just worry them even more about my abnormal abilities and I don't really want to divulge that just yet. However, most of all, I did not want him to witness the defeat of someone who handed his ass so easily." Naruto chuckled as Arya's eyebrows started to slant sharply.

"Enough talk. More than one human has underestimated me and met his end to my blade. Now draw your sword." Arya commanded as she noted that the small amount of stamina she lost during her fight with Eragon had recovered.

"Alright. But a word of advice: come at me with the intention to kill, or you will be embarrassed." Naruto said a tri-pronged kunai appeared in his hand from the seals on his arms.

If Arya was surprised, she did not show it other than a small raising of her eyebrows. But what came next startled her as Naruto literally disappeared from her vision. As Arya whirled her head around to find him, a voice came from behind her, "Come on Arya, don't disappoint me. Raise your awareness, sharpen your mind, and most of all, don't hesitate to try and kill me for if you do not…I may just kill you." Naruto said as Arya jumped away from the voice with wide eyes.

" _How did he get behind me? How did I not sense anything when he disappeared from in front of me? And how is this the speed of a human?_ " Arya's mind raced as fast as a dragon flies as she held her sword in front of her. " _Enough thinking. I will just treat him as an elf rather than a human_." Arya thought as she focused her eyes on Naruto.

" _Ah, her eyes have finally changed. Well then, let's dance!_ " Naruto thought as he rushed towards Arya while swinging one of his kunai straight at her temple. In a blur of movement, she leaned her head back just as the kuani brushed past her face while she tried to slice the human from hip to shoulder in front of her, only to find a hand clamping her arm in place as he used her momentum to flip over her head. "Come on, you'll have to do better than that!" Naruto yelled as Arya snarled at the blonde.

What happened in the next few minutes was beyond anything Arya expected despite her going all out on the human in front of her. " _Just how is he keeping up with me? No, maybe this is only a temporary thing. Let's see how long he can last._ " Arya thought while continuing slash and stab with her sword at the elusive blonde.

Seconds stretched to minutes…minutes seemed to stretch into hours…and hours stretched to beyond measurement as the two combatants hacked, slashed, stabbed, and whirled around each other to the point all that if a person was looking at them, all he or she could see would be a swirling mass of steel and the occasional point.

Time soon came to have no meaning as Arya discovered weaknesses in her fighting style that she never could have expected while still finding none in Naruto's. No, that was wrong, there were weaknesses, many in fact, but he was just too fast and strong for her to take advantage of them. All she could do was constantly engage in a fiery fight filled with sparks, smoking blades, torn leather, and evaporating sweat.

As they fought, Arya, who was now red in the face from exertion, stared at the foreigner in confusion, her entire begin focused on his every move. " _Who is this man? For a human to be able to keep up with an elf, other than Galbatorix and the Dragon Riders, should be impossible._ "

At the same time, Naruto was also having thoughts that somewhat mirrored Arya's, " _Her physical conditioning rivals her energy reserves. However, what's most interesting, is her fighting form. Even if I'm limiting suppressing my chakra and wearing my resistance seals, it's still impressive that I still can't land a solid blow on her other than a few glancing ones._ " Noting the sweat beading her forehead and the small shivers in her arms, he mentally sighed.

 _"But she is tiring and is almost out of energy. I wish we could continue fighting, as it's been too long since I've had a good spar._ _Unfortunately_ _, it's time to end this. Why not go out with a bang?_ " Coming to a decision, he jumped away from the fight, smirking when he saw Arya look confused at his actions.

As elf and human stared at one another, Naruto shouted out, "Good, you have done well! I may be faster and stronger than you, but I still haven't been able to land a clean blow on you. But, lets see how you handle this!" Letting a strand of chakra into his muscles, he settled into a crouched position.

Arya merely raised her sword in response and tried to hide the trembles in her arms. " _What does he mean by that. Don't tell me that he still hiding something…Barzul!_ " Her eyes widened when Naruto suddenly disappeared from her vision and reappeared only foot in front, his kunai already stabbing towards her neck. Instincts screaming at her, she just managed to get her blade between them and successfully ward off her death, only to be shocked by the pure strength behind the blow when she was flung to the ground 10 feet away from her original position. Rolling unsteadily to her feet, she gazed in disbelief at Naruto. " _What is this strength? This speed?_ "

"Ho, so you managed to block that blow. Don't worry if you get mortally wounded, your death in this technique won't actually kill you in the real world…you'll just feel as if Saphira went on a rampage in your mind hehehe." Naruto chuckled creepily as she just sweat dropped.

"Are you serious?! Just because I can't die in your technique, that doesn't mean you have to try and kill me?" Arya couldn't help but uncharacteristically yell back, her manners and elegant demeanor temporarily forgotten at the blond's words.

"Hehehe, get ready Arya. This will be the final clash between us. Now, let's dance!" Naruto shrugged off the accusation and blurred into motion, creating afterimages by sheer speed. All Arya could do was harden her guard and deflect the blows that would have crippled, if not outright killed her while letting the less lethal blows through. Because of this, Arya quickly accumulated cuts and slashes all across her body, her leather armor doing little to ward off him. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and fell to her knees, panting and sweating rivers down her entire body with only her sword - stabbed in the ground - holding her up from fully dropping to the ground.

A shadow fell on top of her as Naruto leaned over her to place a hand under her arm to get her back on her feet. After a brief and weak struggle, Arya allowed herself to rise with his help and raised her head just in time to look into those sapphire eyes that glimmered so much like Saphira's scales. What startled her was the joy and contentment that she found in his eyes rather than the gloating that she expected from human who beat down an elf in a fair fight.

"Well done Arya. I hope we can continue sparring in the future." Naruto cheekily said while letting out a foxy smile. With his eyes closed to his smile, he did not notice the brief blush that appeared and then almost instantly disappeared from Arya's cheeks.

"Humph, I guess we should. You fought well, despite fighting mostly like a barbarian. A fast and strong barbarian, but a barbarian nonetheless." Arya jibed as Naruto just pouted.

"Well, time to leave this technique. You should know it will be disorienting when I end this jutsu; so try to not fall on your ass when we're back in the real world." Naruto warned. As Arya stared at the back of Naruto, she suddenly felt her heart thump just a little faster before light consumed her.


	8. Eve of Battle

As Naruto ended the technique, both Eragon and Arya stumbled backwards, with Eragon leaning on Saphira and Arya managing to stabilize her footing. As they regained their bearings, they noticed that the soldiers that were on the field were just starting to form a circle around them.

" _What happened? Why are the soldiers only now starting to forming a circle around us? We've been fighting for at least a couple of hours, so why only now?_ " Eragon, Saphira, and Arya thought.

Naruto noted their looks of confusion. "Remember what I said in the Tsukuyomi?" Naruto asked. As they thought about what he said, their eyes widened when they remembered that he said, " _This is my Tsukuyomi, where I rule time and space, where I am God of this space._"

"Yes, I can see you realized it. I can adjust the time in Tsukuyomisuch that a few hours in that space is merely a couple of seconds in the real world. And as such, we waste little time." Naruto revealed.

The three stood silent for a moment as they fully digested the information. Then a thought too terrifying to not say something wormed its way into Saphira's mind. " _Little One, this is a terrifying technique. While this time he only used to keep the fight away from prying eyes, if used to torture someone…Moreover, due to this ability of his occurring in his mind and not actually in the victim's, there is no kind of mental defense against it. However, it would seem that he needs to actually have eye contact with you, or else the technique can't be used._ " Saphira warned Eragon to the possible application and "weakness" of the technique.

Eragon widened his eyes as he thought, " _Was this magic, or some kind of inherent ability of his? All he said was Tsukuyomi, but it doesn't sound like it's of the ancient language. Even if it is, only a single word cannot begin to describe the complexity this technique holds. This man is dangerous; if he's a friend, then all is well, but if he ever becomes an enemy..._"

" _What an ability. Just looking into his eyes and saying Tsukuyomi drew me into his mind. I could not even struggle against it. I must speak with him more and get to know him better to both get understand his motives and his…powers._" Arya thought.

"Well then, I guess we are finished here. Ja ne." Naruto said as he turned around to leave the training field until a voice rang out.

"Wait, you and Eragon, follow me." Arya said as she tilted her head towards a knoll around a mile away from the field. After doing so, she started to run in that direction.

After he saw Eragon mount soar away on Saphira, Naruto just shrugged and thought, " _Well, why the hell not._ " Naruto casually walked over to where Arya and Eragon were already talking.

"Yo, hope I'm not intruding. So why exactly did you call us over?" Naruto asked.

"I just informed Eragon of the decision for him to go to Ellesméra, although not for a few weeks. I was wondering if you could come along. After all, from what I heard from Eragon, you wanted to be his companion and go wherever he goes."

It didn't take long for Naruto to make a decision. "Ellesméra, the home of the elves? Sounds interesting, count me in." He then drew out two tri-pronged kunai and handed them to both Arya and Eragon. As they looked in confusion at him, Naruto said, "Please keep these on you. Should you ever need help or are in extreme danger, just throw these and I will be there in a flash." After speaking, Naruto disappeared in a flurry of leaves back to his quarters.

_Two Days Later_

Naruto was training in his Kamui dimension with a clone outside when all of a sudden a dwarf barged in. "You must come quickly. Great trouble is coming – Ajihad requests for you immediately! Follow me!"

When the dwarf turned around, the clone quickly dispelled, after which the real Naruto swirled back into reality, all before the dwarf could suspect a thing.

When he got to Ajihad's study, Naruto noticed that Eragon, Arya, Hrothgar and Orik were already there with the leader of the Varden, as well as another man that he introduced as Jörmundur, his second in command. They all turned towards Ajihad, wondering what the situation was.

"I roused the six of you because we are all in grave danger. About half an hour ago a dwarf ran out of an abandoned tunnel under Tronjheim. He was bleeding and nearly incoherent, but he had enough sense left to tell the dwarves what was pursuing him: an army of Urgals, maybe a day's march from here."

As Orik and Jörmundur burst into questions, Ajihad raised a hand to quiet them as he continued. "Quiet! There is more. The Urgals aren't approaching over land, but under it. They're in the tunnels . . . we're going to be attacked from below. The reason we weren't aware sooner was because of the vast array of tunnels that riddle the Beor Mountains, with maybe hundreds unused since the day they were constructed. But I digress"

Ajihad pulled out an extremely detailed map of the southern half of Alagaesia. He then pointed out a spot. "This is where the dwarf claimed that the Urgals were coming from. Apparently this was a place called Orthíad, an ancient dwelling that has been used for enough years for certain tunnels to collapse. But most importantly, we still do not know how many Urgals there are, or whether the Empire has augmented them with its own troops."

"Wait, I believe I can help with that. Just trust me on this and give me several minutes." Naruto said as he saw several expressions of disbelief. They watched as they saw Naruto suddenly still and gasped when they saw his slowly opening eyes. To Arya and Eragon, they were less surprised due to having to look into Naruto's eyes during his _Tsukuyomi_ , but even they were surprised when they saw a golden, instead of purple iris. But that's not what surprised Arya and Eragon most. It was the pure power with a feeling of nature coming from Naruto, a power that Arya only felt from the Menoa Tree back in the forests of Ellesméra. Then the power they felt faded as Naruto's switched from golden, to purple, and finally to sapphire-blue.

"There are approximately 12,000 Urgals and Kull fast approaching here. They should be here in about a day. But curiously, their minds seem all be connected to a particularly dark mind that consists of three parts." Naruto informed the others.

"How do you know this? And from your information, if true, it would seem Durza the Shade is coming here as well." Ajihad said as he stared at Naruto, trying to discern whether he was lying or not, and eventually stopped when he saw that the blond was not lying.

"How I know is my own business, but I must ask you how you intend to fight such a force. From what I have sensed, you have far fewer men and women capable of fighting in this battle: around 10,000 if I'm correct. Not only are you outnumbered, but from what I know, each Urgal or Kull has a fighting prowess of several men or dwarves." Naruto questioned.

"The plan so far is to divide the army into 3000 per entrance while keeping 1000 in reserve. But personally, I'm afraid that 3000 men and dwarves per entrance is just far too few to stave off an Urgal and Kull army that already outnumbers us." Ajihad sighed.

"Then, let me take one of the entrances while you split the army into 4500 per entrance and still keep 1000 in reserve." Naruto offered.

Surprisingly, it was not Ajihad that retorted first, but Arya. "Naruto, no, you can't do this. No matter how powerful you are, you still cannot handle a potential 4000 Urgals and Kull all by yourself. Not even an elven Dragon Rider with his dragon could stave off an army that size within such a limited space."

"Naruto, she is right. Despite what I've heard of what you did to help Eragon, 4000 Urgals and Kull are far too much. No, I cannot allow this." Ajihad said. Eragon, although he did not say anything, agreed with Ajihad and Arya and worried that his friend, despite only knowing him for a week, was biting off more than he could chew.

"Ajihad, Arya…with all due respect, you do not know me well enough to make that decision. And I believe I should inform you what I was most known for in my homeland." Naruto said as he started to leave the study. "I was known as an Army Killer…" Naruto's voice echoed as he disappeared from view.

Arya questioned, "So what did you mean by helping Eragon earlier?"

Eragon answered, "Before arriving at the Varden, we were on the wrong side of the waterfall, so we were about to be overrun by several hundred of Urgals and Kull, he suddenly appeared before us and suddenly did some kind of spell that wiped them all out with white flames hot enough to force even Saphira to look away." Arya just widened her eyes at the description. Such a thing would be possible by elves, but even then it would take several of the strongest elven spell casters to even begin to replicate such a feat.

" _Just who are you?_ " Arya thought as Ajihad made the decision to trust in Naruto in this.

Time passed quickly for Eragon as he went about collapsing over a dozen tunnels so that the Urgal army could be directed towards three chosen tunnels. As he did, he wondered just how Naruto was going to combat so many Urgals and Kull.

" _Little One, don't worry too much about Naruto. From what we've seen, even if he can't kill all of them, he can escape easily enough. You remember the devastating white fire and impossible speeds that he can move at. Just focus on our part of the upcoming battle and all will be well._ "

" _I know Saphira, but I still can't help but worry about him. I haven't even known him for that long, and yet for some reason I feel like I would lose another friend should he die or disappear. After all, he has avenged my uncle and Brom. However, I will get my answers from him after this battle, even if I must be stubborn about it._ "

As Eragon waited in a suit of fine armor given by the dwarven king Hrothgar, behind the barricades that the Varden set up in front of the three entrances, he looked around. On one side, he saw Orik sharpening his axe and Saphira in the armor that Hrothgar also provided. Eragon was thankful to the dwarven king, knowing that the armors that Saphira and he wore were worth several prince ransoms if not more. Then on the other side, he saw a sea of soldiers. On every soldier was a grim face with eyes that constantly flickered between the entrances and the weapons they all held in their hands. As he kept looking, he found a figure that stood out from the rest of the battlefield.

"Arya? What are you doing here?" Eragon asked, with confusion but not as much concern in his tone.

"I am here because it is my Wyrd to be there. I must repay my debt to you and would be dishonored should I not guard you when you need it most. Arya responded in a steely tone and with hard, but not cold eyes.

Eragon struggled for a moment, with his life-long beliefs that women should not fight in a man's fight to the fact she did destroy him in their duel in Naruto's _Tsukuyomi_ before experience finally won out against his beliefs. "I…understand. I might not like it, but I have learned enough from my journey that each race has different beliefs and besides, you did beat me in our duel earlier."

Arya blinked several times before offering a small smile. "I would have thought that you would argue with my being on the battlefield and then I would have to explain why such beliefs are completely wrong. But it would seem that you are already on the road to becoming a fine Dragon Rider in both body and mind."

"Anyways, where is Naruto. He did say he would take one of the entrances…there he is, wait…MURTAGH!"

Orik's and Arya's head twisted towards where Eragon was looking at and saw Naruto and Murtagh coming towards them together. They observed that Naruto was wearing no armor except for a steel fishnet that was visible under a green vest. He also wore dark blue pants and a white coat with some symbols running down its back and red flames at the bottom. They also noticed as Eragon ran and hugged Murtagh the same three-pronged kuani at Murtagh's hip. Before Orik could protest, Naruto waved a hand at him said, "Ajihad granted my request in letting out Murtagh after his loyalty against the Empire was proven."

"Naruto, are you still going to handle one of the entrances by yourself? If needed, I also have a debt to repay too and will stand by your side against any and all foes you face." Arya said.

"Yeah, I am sure. There will be no need for you to help me with the entrance. But Eragon, I have a couple of things to say to you." Naruto said, turning towards Eragon and thus missing the slightly disappointed look on Arya's face. He then grabbed Eragon's shoulder and brought their eyes level with each other.

What Eragon saw in those eyes surprised him, as they were completely different from the playful and laughter-filled eyes that he was so used to seeing on the blonde. Instead, he saw the eyes of a hardened veteran and leader. His attention was brought once more to Naruto once he began speaking. "Eragon, from what I've heard, this will be the first major battle that you will be a part of. Know this: this battle will be completely different from the skirmishes that you have been a part of. For every enemy you kill, there will be several more to take his place. Do not be surprised. Keep your focus and know that your comrades, especially Saphira, are guarding your back and will not hesitate to you help you when you need it. Second, remember to use that kunai that I gave you earlier should ever be in a hopeless situation. I promise you that I will be there to help you, and if you must know anything about me, it's that I have and will never break a promise! Now, stay safe and let the will of fire burn through you!" Naruto finished while bringing Eragon back to his full height.

As Naruto reminded Arya about the kunai, Eragon pondered on his words and softly smiled. " _It seems like I have made another ally._ "

" _Yes you have Little One, yes you have._ " Saphira thought back as the battle no longer seemed as dark as before.

As Ajihad passed by, he pointed towards the leftmost cave. "Naruto, that will be the entrance that you will be guarding. I also have the 1000 reserve troops near your location should you need it."

Naruto only shook his head. "That won't be necessary. Keep those men near your armies. Trust me to fulfill my duties, and you will be glad you did."

Ajihad stared at Naruto and then just nodded as he rode away to the part of the army that he commanded.

Several hours later, a scout ran out of the tunnels with the news that the Urgals were here. The battle was about to begin.

Notes:

Wryd – fate/destiny


	9. Battle of Farthen Dûr

As Naruto felt the Urgals come, he felt a familiar pull in his mind.

" ** _BRAT! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO WAKE ME UP WHEN SOMETHING INTERESTING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. YOU WERE ABOUT TO GO MASSACRE AN ARMY WITHOUT ME. I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS?_** " Kurama roared out at Naruto.

"Uh…sorry about that. I sort of forgot about you…" Naruto instantly regretted his words as he felt a nostalgic, if terrifying feeling coming over his mind.

" ** _Hehehe…the kid is finally going senile. Forgetting little old me…you know the giant fox with ten tails that make mountains look tiny. No of course not, you FORGOT…what should I do to make you remember? Maybe destroy your ramen bowls? Nonono, that's too nice. Ah, maybe finding a way to release Kaguya from the seal? Oh wait…maybe I should play the Lee-Guy Genjutsu of sunny death…_** " Kurama murmured darkly.

" _Oi, stop right there! Remember if I see that genjutsu, you will also see it! Anyways, we're about to go into a battle!"_ Naruto blabbered, trying desperately to stop the crazy Juubi from driving him insane and possibly ending the world. " _So how do you think we should approach this battle. As you've probably seen from my memories, these Urgals are at most Low-Chunin in power, Low-Genin in speed, and Academy-Level in energy. The only thing is that there are around 4000 of them in a small space._ "

After his little rant, Kurama thought a bit before responding, " ** _Well, if we want to get the most out of this battle to evolve your body further, you should keep the 100x resistance seals. Other than that, they're so weak they can't even serve as appropriate training dummies._** "

" _I see. Alright, let's dance!_ " Naruto thought back and with Kurama groaning at his host's use of Madara's signature phrase.

All of the Varden that could see the blonde stared at him strangely as he suddenly bent down in a stance that looked like when Guy did his ultimate move, Night Guy. But then there was a single loud crack as Naruto pushed off the ground, leaving a small crater in the solid rock, and towards his tunnel. As he approached the tunnel, Naruto ran through several hand seals, drew in his breath and then let out a wave of lava towards the entrance of the tunnel, "Yoton: Yokai no Jutsu!" Before the lava could completely solidify over the entrance, he disappeared into the tunnel as the lava sealed off the entrance.

Eragon turned towards Sapphira, Murtagh, Orik, and Arya. "Did I see that correctly? First he moved fast enough to disappear from view, cracked the ground with the very force of his movement, and sprayed some kind of lava…from his mouth to seal off the entrance?" Everyone just nodded dumbly. "Well…barzul."

Arya had similar thoughts as well. " _He moved even faster than in our duel and can do spells that I have never heard of. After this battle, I will definitely get my answers to get to know him better._ "

As Naruto landed inside of the tunnel, he looked behind him towards the sealed off entrance. "Well, now they won't be able to see my abilities." He did a few more hand-seals and then breathed out a fine corrosive mist. "Futton: Komu no Jutsu!" Then without any hand-seals, Naruto inhaled and then breathed out a gust of wind, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" making the cloud of corrosive mist rush down the tunnel.

As the first Urgals rounded a corner, they saw the silhouette of a single human behind a cloud of mist that was rushing towards them. But what enraged them was that the entrance behind the human blocked. With red eyes, they rushed towards the blonde, intent on ripping him into shreds. As the lead Urgals rushed into the mist, they suddenly felt unimaginable pain everywhere on their bodies. When they looked down at their bodies, they were horrified as they saw their skin melt and collect into puddles of flesh and blood on the floor. In but a few seconds of screaming, all that was left of the first Urgals were puddles of flesh, blood, bone, and steel. As the rest of the Urgals and Kull rushed around the same corner, they stopped, terrified at the sight of their melted comrades, as well as an ever slightly thinned cloud of mist. But soon they received mental orders from the Shade to continue on, and ran into the mist with the same thing happening to them. It was only when a thousand Urgals rushed into the tunnel that the mist finally dispersed, having fully been absorbed by the melted bodies of the Urgals.

" _Well, that worked better than expected. Kekkai Genkai users truly were cheat sheets._ " Naruto thought to Kurama.

" ** _Considering you're now able to use all Kekkai Genkai with more training, possibly create new Kekkai Genkai, and have the Rinne-Sharingan that can use all of the abilities of previous Sharingans, I don't think you can complain about cheats._** " Kurama snorted.

When he saw half of the corrosive mist disappear, Naruto touched a faint seal on his left hand, and with a flourish, pulled out a handle with intricate seals running down its length. " _Well, time to get physical._ "

* * *

Eragon felt like hell. For the past hour, he had been killing Urgals and Kull nonstop on foot, on Saphira, with magic, by bow, and by sword. But for every single one killed, two came to replace him. It was only because of Naruto's earlier words that he was able to avoid breaking down both physically and mentally. As Eragon got into dangerous situations that he could not get out of by himself, Naruto's words once again came true as Saphira, Hrothgar, and Murtagh came to help him out even at great cost to themselves. It made Eragon really realize that under Naruto's sunny exterior, was a veteran warrior to the bone.

Now as Eragon looked down at the battle from the back of Sapphira, he observed that the Urgals and Kull were streaming out of two of the three tunnels and were fighting the armies led by Ajihad and Hrothgar. However, the third sealed entrance remained sealed and strangely silent.

" _Whatever he's doing, it's pretty damn effective._ " Suddenly a consciousness not his own or Saphira's entered his mind.

" _There are loud noises under Tronjheim. It sounds like the Urgals are trying to dig into the city…_ "

Eragon quickly spotted Arya among a mass of Urgals and Kull. He and Saphira flew down from above and quickly cleared the area while Eragon shouted, "GET ON!" as Arya swept her sword in a circle to kill the Urgals around her and gracefully leapt onto Saphira and behind Eragon.

Just as Saphira was about to take off, a Kull rushed in with an upraised axe and smashed into her chest. With a roar of pain, Saphira still managed to take off from the ground, but not before Arya shot out a green ball of energy that passed through the Kull, killing it instantly.

" _Are you alright?_ " Eragon asked in concern, feeling the pain and shock of Saphira through their bond.

" _I'll live, she said grimly, but the front of my armor has been crushed together. It hurts my chest, and I'm having trouble moving._ "

Eragon notified Arya of Sapphira's condition and flew up to the dragonhold.

When the Urgals and Kull found that the mist had dispersed and that the source of the pain and death of a thousand of their comrades was just standing there with only a handle in his hand, they charged with swords and axes raised, intent on destroying the human responsible for annihilating a quarter of their numbers.

As the first Kull of the group swung his sword down at the blonde, he suddenly saw a flash of yellow light and then darkness as his head fell from his shoulders. The last thing the Kull heard in his fading conscience was, " _Raijin no Ken_ ".

The rest of the Urgals and Kull ignored their comrade's death to all slash at the offending blonde. With a speed that would have put an elf's to shame and possibly tear apart a regular human's body, Naruto weaved through all of the weapons flying at him while slashing and stabbing through bodies and armor like butter.

" _Yes, keep going! Destroy them. Push your body to the limit and beyond. There is no greater joy than improving your body while massacring your enemies!_ " The giant fox in his gut said.

In a battle, there is yelling, there is screaming, but to the Urgals in the back, there was no such sound the moment Naruto pulled out the Raijin no Ken. As they started to snarl in annoyance at the hold up, they froze when saw the Urgals and Kull in front of them simply fall apart with a flash of yellow light. Even without the Hiraishin no Jutsu and limited by 30x resistance seals, Naruto was moving at a speed faster than the they could process. And in that time that they took to process that something was moving too fast for them to even see while slaughtering their comrades, they died. By the end of the hour, where there was once an army that could have easily taken a minor city in the Empire, there was only reddish-black puddles and burnt slices of Urgals and Kull that littered the ground.

"Whew, that was slightly tiring, especially when my body is limited like this. Still, that wasn't much of a challenge." Naruto said to no one in particular.

" _Well, that was to be expected. After all, even with all of the limitations, you are still the God of the Shinobi World. There was no way these ugly humans could have possibly challenged you enough to try hard. Even then, I can sense that your body has slightly improved. Your chakra pathways have already ever so slightly increased in size and your muscle fiber and bone density have also increased by a small amount. You could probably take a hit from your pink-haired teammate and not move at all._ " Kurama summarized.

" _Well…_ " Naruto started before feeling a tug towards a single point in space. " _Somebody threw the Hiraishin kunai that I gave them. Well, let's go!_ " Naruto thought as he allowed himself to be pulled towards the marker.

Eragon knelt on the ground as Durza slowly invaded his mind. " _What was I thinking? I should have waited Arya, Sapphira, Murtagh, or Naruto. Wait, Naruto?_ " Eragon thought as he yanked the tri-pronged kuani from his belt and thought back to Naruto's words. While not expecting much, he threw the kunai if only to buy another second for anybody to show up and help.

As Durza was about to slice down through the thrown kunai and rend Eragon's back from shoulder to hip, a yellow flash blinded both of them as Naruto suddenly appeared a foot above the thrown kunai.

"Fūton: Rasengan!" Naruto yelled out as he shoved a stormy grey spiraling sphere of pure wind chakra that he completed in his Kamui dimension before the battle into and through the Shade's sword while immobilizing Durza due to the sudden turbulence from the exploding sphere.

"BRISINGR!" Eragon yelled out as he took advantage of the opening, lunged forward with the first spell he ever used and with heatless, flickering flames blazing down Zar'roc's length…

And stabbed Durza through the heart.

As Durza roared out to the ceiling, his face ran through a series of emotions: disbelief, pain, anger, burning rage, and finally despair as his skin turned transparent. Instead of red flesh and white bone, pure darkness violent swirled as it broke through the skin and into three entities that tried to invade their killer's mind.

"Oh no you don't. You're not taking the kid from me! Ningendo!" Naruto yelled out as he ripped the three entities away from Eragon and sent them to the King of Hell.

As the Urgals slowly came to terms of what happened, they charged with murderous roars towards the duo. As Eragon coughed and panted, Naruto stood there without flinching, just watching as the Urgals came at them. "Well done, maybe next time you can do this without me." Naruto said cheekily as he swept his hand in front of him, eyes blazing. As Eragon started to panic at the swift approach of the remaining Urgals, Naruto whispered, "Now now Eragon, relax. It'll all be over in a second." Eragon wondered what he meant until he heard the next words.

"Shinra Tensei!"

A crater erupted where the two stood and expanded while sweeping the Urgals and Kull away from the two while ripping their flesh and breaking their bones with pure gravitational forces.

As the dust settled, there almost nothing left of the enemy, or of the original room for that matter. As Eragon stood there in disbelief, he asked, "So, you can breathe white fire and lava, move faster than an elf, appear in a yellow flash, and slam everyone around you while pulverizing them to bits? Did I miss anything?"

"Uh well…that yellow flash thing…that wasn't movement, that was instant teleportation, you know like going through time and space yeah?" Naruto said in an amused tone.

"Right…teleportation, of course…WAIT, TELEPORTATION?" Eragon almost screamed as his vision darkened and fainted towards the ground.

"Yup." Naruto grinned as he grabbed Eragon before he touched the ground and slipped the Hiraishin kuani back into Eragon's belt.

Notes:

Yoton: Yokai No Jutsu – Lava Release: Melting Technique

Futton: Komu no Jutsu – Boil Release: Solid Fog Jutsu

Raijin no Ken – Sword of the Thunder God

Fūton: Rasengan – Wind Style: Rasengan

Shinra Tensei – Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God, or Almighty Push


End file.
